"Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come forth . . ."
John 5:28,29a
A
Restoration Light
Publication
By Ronald R. Day, Sr.
Quotations from other sources often abbreviate scriptural citations. We have expanded all abbreviated citations in order to make better use of digital searches.
This publication has been the result of many years work; it is still not complete. Due to the manner in which this work has been compiled, sometimes discussions related to certain topics may be scattered. We are trying to put cross-references where possible. Please bear with us in this and if you note any place where a cross-reference should be noted, please let us know. Also let us know of any errors (typos, wrong references, etc.) that you may find in this work.
(1) For thousands of years people have been trying to answer the question of life after death. Today there are many viewpoints about what happens to a person when he dies. How can we know where our loved ones have gone? How can we know what will happen to us when we die? Some have sought the answer by seeing psychics in an effort to contact their dead loved ones. But the disciple of Jesus does not need someone to come from the dead to tell him or her about death. (Isaiah 8:19,20) He has the Word of God, The Holy Bible, and that is all he needs. (2 Timothy 3:16,17) We hope to prove to you that the Bible gives a complete and satisfactory answer to our question. Before considering the scriptural answer, however, let us see what human reasoning, without the aid the God's Word, can tell us. We will find that the answer from this source is incomplete. Whatever facts we obtain from science, however, will be found to agree with the Word of God. This is what we should expect for God is the author of the laws of the universe and reason, as well as of the Bible. Those who claim that scientific facts and the Bible do not agree with each other simply do not understand the one or the other.
What Can Science
Tell Us?
(2) What does science say about the body, soul, and spirit? Science tells us that the human body is composed of many elements. These same elements are found everywhere in the earth around us. This agrees with the Bible, which states that God "formed man of the dust of the ground." (Genesis 2:7) The dust of the ground is merely another way of saying "the elements of the earth."
(3) But what about the soul, the real person, the "Ego", the thinking part of man? What does science tell us about it? The popular conception is that the soul is a being residing within and independent of our organism. At death, the claim is that it is set free from the body and continues to exist forever. Science has never found such a being. It has never been discovered in the dissecting room or in the laboratory. Science contends, however, that it is not true that the thinking part of man is independent of this organism. The lower animals can reason to some extent, and the more complex and finer the structure of their brain the better their reasoning power. Man, whose brain is the most complex and has the finest structure, is possessed of the highest degree of reasoning power. As a child grows into maturity and its brain develops, its reasoning power increases. If the brain cells become damaged or diseased, the reasoning power diminishes. It is clear then, that the soul is not independent of a person's organism.
(4) Some claim to have `out-of-body' experiences. Some claim they have died, gone to heaven and come back to relate the experiences they had while in their "death state." Others have claimed to have gone to a hell of burning flames and returned back to life. How reliable are these claims? Scripturally, the claims can be shown to be false. i one has had such an experience, how can one know that the experience was actually real, a hallucination, or a delusion of Satan? Such claims should not be the basis for hope for a disciple of Jesus, but we believe the Christian should base his faith on what is presented in the Bible. Nevertheless, more frequently doctors see persons brought into hospitals unconscious through an injury to the head, who recovered after an operation, and remember nothing of the time between. After awakening, almost universally doctors find that the last thing the patient remembers is what occurred immediately before the accident. Although the duration till he regained consciousness may have been days and sometimes even weeks, months, years, yet to him, it has been a perfect blank. Why is this? If the soul is an entity that remains conscious without the body, where was the person's soul during the duration of unconsciousness? Why could it not recollect events after the accident if it is independent of the body? This gives at least some evidence that the human soul is dependent on an organism.
(5) But what about the spirit? Is it a being inside of us? Some recognize that the soul dies, but claim that man has a spirit that is immortal, and that it is this spirit that continues to live after the death of the body. The only spirit that science recognizes is the spirit (energy, or vitality) of life. At one time it was thought that life resided in some particular part of the body. Now science tells us that the body is composed of innumerable cells. The spirit or energy of life animates every one of these cells. We know, also, that this energy of life is dependent on specific continual processes of waste and repair.
(6) Your finger, for example, is composed of many cells in each of which is the spirit or energy of life. This life is dependent on processes of waste and repair. If these processes become hindered there is disease. If they stop completely there is death. If your finger is dead, in the course of time it shrivels up and drops off. Should your finger die, what becomes of the spirit or energy of life? We understand that the death of a finger and also of the whole body simply means the cessation of the life processes of waste and repair. It is the same in the case of the lower animals and of plants. They also are composed of innumerable cells in each of which is the spirit or energy of life. This energy of life is dependent on similar processes of waste and repair. We do not understand that their spirit [force] of life is a being that continues to have an independent existence after death. After life is completely gone, man is unable to give it back. That, briefly, is what Science can tell us regarding our question. Science knows nothing of a future state. And so we read in Ecclesiastes 12:7: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit [Hebrew transliterated, ruach, Strong's No. 7307, wind, breath, power] shall return to God who gave it." God alone can restore the spirit or power of life. See our study: The Spirit that Returns to God.
The Answer of Philosophy
(7) This is where "philosophy" steps in. We human beings have considerable reasoning power, and also a conscience, that is, a feeling of right and wrong. Philosophy tells us that if we follow the right course we are good and virtuous and should expect a corresponding reward, and that if we follow the wrong course we are bad or vicious and should expect a corresponding punishment. Yet we find in reality that these reasonable consequences frequently do not follow in our present existence. In fact, the very reverse is generally the rule. Malachi 3:15 says: "Now we call the proud happy. Yes, they that work wickedness are exalted. Yes, they that tempt God are even delivered." How true this is! Pride is promoted almost everywhere we look, often even in schools, churches, political leaders, etc. On the other hand as the apostle Paul declares: "Yes, all that will live godly in Jesus Christ must suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12) Is it true that all the great ones of the earth, the kings, nobles, and leaders are the most righteous, and that the lower of the scale of position and honor the more vicious we find men to be? No! Is it not chiefly from among the poor of this world, rich in faith, that God is choosing the heirs of the Kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him? -- 1 Corinthians 1:26-28; John 7:48; Luke 10:21.
(8) Philosophy, therefore, reasons that there must be a future state where the virtuous will be rewarded, and the vicious punished. But philosophy cannot reach a solid conclusion as to what or where this future state will be, nor whether it is attained at the moment of death or after an interval. Thus any thoughts regarding the afterlife that the philosophers put forth are mere speculations at best.
Revelation By Spirits Unworthy of Credence
(9) There are thus many questions left unanswered by unaided human reasoning. If we cannot get the complete answer from Science or from Philosophy, where should we expect to obtain it? As we cannot get it from ourselves, evidently we must expect a revelation from without. Some profess to receive this revelation through spiritism. Space does not permit a full discussion of this subject, but we are convinced that spiritism, where it is not fraud or trickery, as much of it is, is a manifestation of evil spirits, the fallen angels. Jehovah God warns us very strongly against consulting those who have familiar spirits and declares that all who do these things are an abomination to him. -- Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Leviticus 19:31; Isaiah 8:19,20.
The Answer
From the Word of God
(10) Where, then, must we look for this revelation? Our conclusion is that we should look to God himself, and expect to get our answer not through visions or peculiar manifestations, but through the Bible, the Word of God, "the faith once for delivered to the saints." -- Jude 1:3, A.S.V.; see our study: The Credibility of the Bible.
What is the Soul?
(11) To get a proper understanding of our subject we must begin with the question: "What is the soul?" A good place to start is to examine the scriptural description of the creation of the first human soul, Adam, which we find in Genesis 2:7: "Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground, and blew into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew, neshâmâh, Strong's No. 5397, wind, vital breath) of life, and man became a living soul." Let us reason on what is stated. We should not read the Bible without thinking over what God has to tell us. "Jehovah God formed the man of dust from the ground." From this, we can reaason that Adam's body was formed of the elements of the earth. He had eyes, ears, and a mouth, but so far no ability to see, hear or speak. But then we read that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Notice, the Bible does not say that God breathed into his nostrils a soul, as many claim. What the Word says is that God "breathed into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew, neshâmâh, Strong's No. 5397, wind, vital breath) of life," the spirit or power of life. And what was the result? Do we find the insinuation that Adam had now a soul in him? No, we find that the result of the breath of life having been breathed into Adam was that he "became a living soul (nephesh [Strong's #5315] ḥayyāh [Strong's #2416])" In other words, the soul is not the body, nor is it the spirit of life, but in order for there to be a living soul, it must possess both a body and the spirit of life. The scriptural forumla is: body of dust + neshamah = living soul. This is in agreement with what we have seen to be the conclusion of many scientists, namely, that the "Ego," the real person, the thinking part of man, is not independent of his organism. See also our study on Neshamah.
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(12) After Adam became a living soul, he was then able to see, hear and speak; to think, walk and work. He was then a living sentient being able to sense and respond to his environment. Therefore the best scriptural definition of a living soul that one could give is that it is a being capable of knowing of its existence and environment. It may be objected that such a definition would include the lower animals. Some claim the Scriptures do not teach that the lower animals are souls. But the Word of God DOES speak of lower animals in this way, although in the King James Version and many other translations it is obscured. When the Hebrew words nephesh hhayyah (living soul) are used with reference to the lower animals, the KJV never (except for one exception, namely, Numbers 31:28) gives the translation "soul" but always "life" or "living creature" or some other such expression. Yet in the Hebrew the expression nephesh hhayyah is also applied to humans. When this expression does occur in relation to human beings the KJV invariably translates it "soul" or "living soul." An illustrations of this may be seen in the first chapter of Genesis, 21. In the 21st verse we read from the KJV: "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth." If you have a Strong's Concordance you can see that the expression "living creature" are Strong's words 2416 & 5315, or the Hebrew expression, nephesh hhayyah. This expression is likewise translated as "living creature" in Genesis 1:24. In both instances, animals other than man is being spoken of. Then in the 30th verse of the same chapter we read (KJV): "To every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life." Clearly, then, the Bible agrees with Science in declaring that the lower animals are living souls.
Is the Human Soul Immortal?
(13) The next part of our discussion is a very important one. It is the answer to the question: Is the soul immortal? A great deal depends upon the correct answer to this question. Since the Bible tells us that some will be saved, it follows that if the soul is immortal then those not worthy of being with God would have to spend eternity somewhere. We would have to conclude that either all will ultimately attain eternal bliss with God, or some are doomed to an eternal existence of anguish, whatever may be the form of that suffering. On the other hand, if our loving heavenly Father is able to destroy the soul, he will not be restricted to the above alternatives. He will not be required to ignore the freedom of man's will as the doctrine of "universalism" would demand, nor will he be compelled to condemn the willfully wicked to some eternal misery.
(14) To understand the Bible's true teaching on this subject will require some genuine thinking on God's Word, and accepting what it teaches regardless of your personal upbringing or traditional beliefs. Many are completed surprised when they try to find a scripture that teaches that the soul never dies. How can this be proved? It is easily proved. All you have to do is get a complete Concordance (such as Strong's Exhaustive Concordance), look up first the word "soul", and every word that means "soul", and then the word "immortal", and every word that means "immortal", and you will find that there is not a single verse from Genesis to Revelation which states that the soul is immortal. Even better yet, take a Hebrew concordance, (such as The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament) and a Greek concordance, (such ( as The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament), and look up Strong's Hebrew No. #5315 nephesh (Hebrew word from which the word "soul" is translated) and Strong's Greek No. 5590 psukee (Greek word from which the word "soul" is translated) and see how the Bible speaks of dead souls and that the soul dies (Numbers 6:6; 9:13; Mark 14:34; etc.); the soul can be cut off (Exodus 31:14; Leviticus 7:21; 19:8; 22:3; Acts 3:23; etc.); the soul can be destroyed (Leviticus 23:30; Matthew 10:28); but not once does it say the soul is immortal or that it continues to live after death.
(15) Dr. Thomas Clark, the author of a book called: A Life's Thought on Christ, offered one thousand English pounds to anyone who could find the expression: "immortal", "never-dying", or "ever-living soul", in the Hebrew, Greek, or English Scriptures. Dr. Thomas Clark was quite safe in making that offer. No one ever earned the money. The late W. E. Gladstone wrote with regard to this question: "The natural immortality of the soul is a doctrine wholly unknown to the Holy Scriptures, and standing on no higher plane than that of an ingeniously sustained, but gravely and formidably contested philosophical opinion...It crept into the church by a back door as it were" (Studies Subsidiary to the Works of Bishop Butler, pp. 197-198). Think about this! The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul is not taught in the Scriptures at all; it crept into the popular church through the back door of Greek philosophy!
(16) Those who believe that the soul is immortal generally think that God has so constituted the soul that He Himself cannot possibly destroy it. But in Matthew 10:28, we read that God is able to destroy not only the body but also the soul in Gehenna. (The King James Version and many other translations mistranslate Gehenna as "Hellfire". We will explain in a later what is meant by "Gehenna.") Now turn to Ezekiel 18:4. There we read: "Look! All souls are mine. As the soul of father, so also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that is sinning will die."
(17) It is the soul, the being, that is responsible for sin, and it is the soul, therefore, that is to bear the penalty of sin, and the penalty is distinctly stated to be DEATH. The soul that sins will die; "for the wages of sin is death," not eternal torment. Romans 6:23.
(18) When once we understand this, the whole Bible becomes very clear. Many passages formerly obscure now become very discernible. In 1 Timothy 6:15,16, we read: "The King of kings and Lord of lords . . . only has immortality (Strong's #110, athanasia, deathlessness." At the time of that writing Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords alone had "put on immortality" by a resurrection to the spirit realm. The scriptures show that in the resurrection others will also "put on immortality (Strong's #110, athanasia, deathlessness)." (1 Corinthians 15:53,54) No one on this earth today "possesses" athanasia or "deathlessness".
(19) Let us further illustrate: Suppose your friend looked at his watch in his arm and then exclaimed: "I must put on my watch." You would think there was something wrong with your friend. Why? Because he would be trying to put something on that he already had on. But many sincere professed Christians say they are immortal, and yet they must put on immortality! In 1 Corinthians 15:53,54, the apostle says: "This mortal must put on immortality." But they could not put on something if they had it on already!
(20) It must seem strange to many that this idea of the immortality of the soul has become so prevalent when it is opposed to the teaching of the Scriptures. It was shortly after the death of the apostles that the popular church adopted this teaching of the Greek philosophers. The Gentile converts were eager to appease their Roman rulers. Persecution of Jews was very severe in the second and third centuries. Most of the Jewish disciples of Jesus had been killed. The Gentile disciples simply began adopting the Roman religious views, doctrines and practices as their own. They gave these Roman religious teachings terminology that gave the idea that the Bible supported these views.
(21) One argument put forward to support the theory that the soul is immortal is that it is a little part of God "breathed" into Adam. If those who theorize in this way would only reason out their argument to its legitimate conclusion, they would see that it could not possibly be true. They ought to remember that it is not the body but the soul that is responsible for sin. "The soul that sins. . ." (Ezekiel 18:4,20) If the soul is a little part of God, then this little part of God in man is responsible for sin, and may come under the sentence of eternal condemnation.
(22) Some note Genesis 2:7 says that God breathed the breath (Hebrew, neshâmâh, Strong's No. 5397, wind, vital breath) of life into man's nostrils, and that this differs from the description of the creation of the lower animals. Thus they claim that it is not the soul but this neshâmâh or spirit that is a little part of God, and that it is not the soul but the neshâmâh that is, on this account, immortal. However, in Joshua 10:40 we read that Joshua "utterly destroyed all that breathed [neshâmâh]", thus indicating that this neshâmâh can be destroyed. (See also Deuteronomy 20:16, Joshua 11:11,14) In Job 32:8 this word is translated in the KJV as "inspiration." In Job 37:10 we read that by "the breath [neshâmâh] of God frost is given." In Daniel 10:17 Daniel said "Straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath [neshâmâh] left in me." It becomes evident from these usages of this word that it is not a living entity living inside a person. 1
(23) No, dear friends, the Word of God is consistent. It does not teach that immortality is the natural possession of man. Rather, it says: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through the Anointed Jesus our Master." (Romans 6:23) We do not have eternal life inherent in us, but it is offered to us as a gift through the Anointed Jesus, who gave himself a propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins. -1 John 2:2; 1 Timothy 2:6.
(24) It is thus evident that man will not be granted a future state because he is or possesses an immortal soul or spirit, but because God, in his mercy, has provided some other means of delivering man from his death state. Does this mean that the foundation of Biblical hope is removed? By no means! Everywhere in the Scriptures we are assured that our hope of a future life depends, not on any supposed inherent immortality, but on the resurrection from the dead. Acts 24:14,15; 1 Corinthians 15.
(25) We have shown that the best definition of the soul is the living being that knows of its own existence and its surroundings. The dominant part of the being is the mind, the will, but this cannot exist without an organism. Accordingly, while in a restricted sense the soul may be described as the mind, the will, the conscious Ego, nevertheless, in order to exist, the Ego must have a body of some kind. We have learned also that there is no verse in the Bible that states that the soul is immortal, but that, on the contrary, the Word of God teaches distinctly that the soul that sins will die. Ezekiel 18:4.
Do Good People
Go To Heaven At Death?
(26) The general idea, derived from the catechisms of popular churches, is that "the souls of the believers are at death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory."
(27) Is it true that all the dead who have had faith in God are now in heaven? Let us take an example. What about David, who, with all his faults, was a man beloved of Jehovah, a man after God's own heart? Is David in heaven? Probably many will answer: "Yes." But let us read what the Word of God says. See Acts 2:34: "David is not ascended into the heavens." Nothing could be plainer than that. The question is: Are you going to believe it? Some may say: "That is strange, I thought that David would be in heaven, but evidently I am mistaken. He was not so good as I thought he was." But wait a little! See what Jesus said. In John 3:13, we find it recorded: "No man has ascended up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man." (The words "which is in heaven" that appear in the King James Version do not appear in most ancient manuscripts. See the Revised Standard Version.) "No man"! There is no exception, save Jesus Himself, who came from heaven to be made flesh and dwell among men. Let us beware lest the traditions of men lead us to deny the words of the Messiah. Matthew 15:3,9.
(28) In Acts 26:23, we are told that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead. He was "the first fruits of them that slept," "the first born from the dead." (1 Corinthians 15:20; Colossians 1:18) Some of you may say: "Does not this contradict the other Scriptural statements regarding the raising of Lazarus and others?" The explanation is that Jesus was the first to rise in perfection of life. The others were simply awakened from the death-state to their former dying condition, and after a few years at most returned to the tomb once more. Their awakening from the dead was only temporary as they once again returned to the sleep of death. It did not result in their receiving the new birth to eternal life.
(29) What about the time since Jesus died and rose again? Did each one of his faithful followers during the past 1900 years enter into his just recompense of reward at the moment of death? The scriptural answer to this question is not generally accepted by popular Christians. 2 Peter 2:9 tells us what happens to the wicked. Do we find the apostle there saying that God knows how to punish the wicked at the moment of their death? No, dear friends, Peter tells us clearly that God "knows how to reserve the unjust until the day to judgment to be punished." Notice! The time when the wicked are to be punished is at the day of judgment when Jesus returns. Our Lord, in Matthew 16:27, distinctly states: "The Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." How does that square with the belief held by popular Christianity that the souls of believers are at death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory? Let us believe the Word of God. It will not be until the time when Jesus will return in the glory of His Father with His angels, that he will reward every man according to his works.
(30) Popular theology of today teaches that every believer goes immediately at death to be with Jesus, but Jesus never said such a thing to His disciples, those whom He loved so well. He did not say: "I will receive you unto myself the moment you die." What He did say was: "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:2,3) Again, Paul, speaking to the Colossians, said: "You are dead, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." -- Colossians 3:3,4.
The Thief in Paradise
(31) An objection that is often put forward is the reply of Jesus to the thief who died along side him. (Luke 23:43) According to the usual thought, the repentant thief went, the moment he died, to join Jesus in heaven. Actually, Jesus did not say anything about heaven, but promised the thief that he would be with him in "paradise," not heaven. Paradise does not mean heaven as we will show later. But we have seen the testimony of the Scriptures is that all the apostles, martyrs, and other saints (dedicated ones) who have died are waiting till the return of the Messiah to get their reward. It follows then, if the usual idea with regard to our Lord's reply is correct, that this thief must have had precedence over the apostles and all the holy martyrs. But our Lord himself said to Mary on the third day after his promise to the thief: "I have not yet ascended to my Father." Again, Peter, in Acts 2:27, draws attention to words of David in the 16th Psalm: "You will not leave my soul in hades," but shows that David was not here speaking of himself, but, as the prophetic mouthpiece of our Lord Jesus, he was foretelling that Jesus' soul would go to hades, not to heaven, but would not remain there. (Nor does any scripture say that Paradise is a section of hades, as some teach. This matter will be discussed in a later in this publication.) When we inquire into the matter, we find the explanation very simple. Rotherham's translation (1904 edition) of the passage does away with all difficulties. It is this: "Verily, I say unto thee this day: With me, shalt thou be in Paradise" He put a colon after "today", instead of before it. But is this proper? Do we have a right to change God's Word? Actually to do so does not change God's Word. Why? Because when the Bible was written there were no commas. Punctuation was not invented until some five centuries ago, shortly after the invention of the art of printing. It is merely a modern convenience to indicate that the writer wishes the reader to pause shortly at these places, and so help the understanding of what is written. If you would like to prove that there is no punctuation in the ancient manuscripts of the Bible, we advise you to visit the British Museum, and there you will find, laid open for inspection in a glass case, the most ancient manuscripts. Or you may find copies of these manuscripts in many reference works at your local library. Whether you understand Greek or not you will see that all the words and sentences run together; there is no separation between them, and there is not a comma in the whole manuscript. This means, then, that the comma and other marks of punctuation that appear in our English versions are not inspired, but merely inserted by the translators to bring out what they thought was the meaning of the scriptures. The King James translators believed that the "souls of believers do immediately pass into glory," and accordingly put a comma after the "thee". We have found, however, that Jesus and His apostles said that it would be at the time of his return in the glory of his Father with his holy angels, that believers would be rewarded and the wicked punished. Therefore, the comma should have been placed after "today". What Jesus actually said was: "Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise." Or we might say in everyday English: "[Even though I am being put to death this day] What I say to you today is true: You will be with me in Paradise." Thus we see that Jesus was not contradicting what he had said on every other occasion, nor making any exception in the case of the repentant thief. When Jesus uttered the words of our text, it must on that day have seemed the most unlikely thing possible that He would ever become a King. Hanging on a tree, dying like a criminal, and with the title: "King of the Jews", inscribed in mockery above his head, it must have seemed beyond all the bonds of probability that he would ever receive a kingdom; but when the thief asked to be remembered by Jesus when he came into his Kingdom, Jesus honored his faith and said: "Truly I say to you today", this dark day when I am dying a felon's death, and it seems as though I was an imposter "you will be with me in Paradise." Another important reason why our Lord could have used the word "today"* is that it was on that day that the great sacrifice for the sin of the world was to be finished, which would render it possible for his Kingdom to be established.
*Some cite many instances of Jesus' use of the phrase translated "Verily I say to you" in which the comma is always placed after the word "you". Of course on all of these other instances the word "today" is not used at all, nor was there any reason to emphasize the day on which Jesus was speaking, for only in the instance at Luke 23:43 was it the day in which Jesus died. Thus the outward circumstances seemed to be bleak rather than optimistic that Jesus would ever receive his kingdom and Jesus' emphasis on the the day in which he was making the promise.
The applications of the word "today" follows two general rules: if "today" follows a verb, it is connected to that verb. This applies to our verse in question. "Today" is attached to "say". Other examples of this are Matthew 21:28 and Luke 22:34. When "today" is separated from the verb by "hoti", it is attached to the next clause. Examples are Luke 19:9, 4:21 and Mark 14:30. The word "hoti" does not appear in Luke 23:43.
See:
http://www.godstruthfortoday.org/Library/bullinger/app173.html
The Greek word "semeron" translated "today", "this day" is used as a term of emphasis. In the following references "semeron" qualifies this preceding verb: Luke 2:11; 22:34; Acts 20:26; 26:29; 2 Corinthians 3:14,15. There are a large number of passages in the Septuagint translation in which the Greek construction corresponds to that of Luke 23:43: "I say unto you this day" corresponds to the emphatic, "I testify unto you this day", e.g. Deuteronomy 6:6; 7:11; 8:1; 10:13; 11:8,13,28.."
See also:
http://users.eggconnect.net/noddy3/Luke%202343.htm
(32) Some reason: "To be with Jesus means, accordingly, to be in heaven." This we deny. Those who receive spirit bodies will be with Jesus in heaven when they are raised from the dead. They will stand on heavenly Mount Zion as joint-heirs with him. (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1; Romans 8:17) But being with Jesus does not necessarily mean that the person who will be "with Jesus" is in heaven. Jesus returns to the earth, he, like God, will be "with" men here on the earth. (Revelation 21:3,4; Ezekiel 37:25-28; 43:7) Thus Jesus could say to the thief who died alongside him: "You will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43) Jesus was not telling the thief that he was going to sit the thief on the throne with him, (as the joint-heirs do - Matthew 19:28; Revelation 3:21; Romans 8:16) but that the thief would be with Jesus when Jesus returns with his Kingdom to bless all the families of the earth. Likewise, Jesus stated that he would be "with" his followers on the earth: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be in there midst." (Matthew 18:20) Again: "Look, I am with you always until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20) Thus, being with Jesus does not necessarily mean that one is in heaven.
The Intermediate State
(33) We have seen that the scriptures teach an intermediate state, a time of waiting between death and the reward. A great many students of the Bible have come to this conclusion, but unfortunately most of them still cling to the erroneous idea of the natural immortality of the soul. Therefore they believe that the soul during this intermediate state is conscious, that it can think and feel, and that it knows even more after death than it knew before. Let us inquire into this also.
(34) Do the scriptures declare that after death, the soul knows more than it did before its death? Look at Ecclesiastes 9:5: "The dead know not anything"; also the tenth verse: "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in Sheol (the realm of death -- Sheol will be discussed later), where you are going." Then we look at the prayer of Hezekiah: "Sheol cannot thank you, death cannot praise you: those who go down in the pit cannot hope for your truth. The living, the one living, he shall praise you, even as I do this day." (Isaiah 38:18,19) Again the Psalmist tells us in the 146th Psalm 4th verse, that when a man dies, "he returns to his earth, and in that very day his thoughts perish." Does that look as if he knew more than he did before? In Psalm 6:4 we read: "Return, O Jehovah, deliver my soul: O save me for your mercies' sake." Then verse 5: "For in death there is no remembrance of you; in sheol who shall give you thanks?" Is it not clear then, that the soul during this intermediate state is in a condition of unconsciousness, waiting for the resurrection awakening?
The Sleep of Death
(35) It is only when we understand what death is that we can realize the beauty of that figure which is so often used throughout both the scriptures written before and after Jesus' arrival, the sleep of death. Our Lord, speaking to his disciples, said: "Our friend Lazarus is sleeping," and when his disciples did not understand him, "then Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead.' " (John 11:11-14) Death is likened to sleep because it is a state of unconsciousness to be followed by an awakening.
(36) Perhaps, you, like so many of us, have had an experience where you have come home very tired and sleepy. You sit or lie down to rest somewhere. You shut your eyes then open them again, thinking to yourself: I was nearly asleep that time.' On looking at the clock however, you are surprised to see that you have been asleep for an hour! You thought you had simply closed my eyes for moment, and could hardly believe that any interval had elapsed. Why was that? Because the interval was a state of unconsciousness. You were asleep, and your sleep was a sound sleep because you were tired. It was as sound as death. That is the condition of the dead. When a person dies he closes his eyes, passes into a state of unconsciousness, and an interval elapses; it may be weeks, years, centuries, or even millenniums; but no matter how long, to that person the period is a complete blank. It is just like that hour of sleep mentioned above. In other words, to each one who is awakened on the resurrection day, it will be as if he had simply closed his eyes and the next moment opened them. That is the condition of the dead. They are completely unconscious. They "know not anything." -- Ecclesiastes 9:5.
(37) Some would like for us to believe that when Jesus and others likened death to sleep, that they only meant that they were no more active in the world which they left, but they insist that the dead are active after death. Such can nowhere be found in the Bible! It is strange that many can refer to the scriptures that speak of those in death as being unconscious (Psalm 30:91; 115:17; 146:4; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Isaiah 38:18,19) and yet deny their plain statements. They argue: "Nowhere does Scripture say that the soul of the departed one falls asleep. It was the person who fell asleep, not necessarily the soul." Thus they would separate the soul from the person. Yet Genesis 2:7 plainly states that "man became a living soul [Hebrew, nephesh, Strong's #5315]." 1 Corinthians 15:45 agrees with this. Thus the Bible speaks of the soul dying and of "dead" souls (Ezekiel 18:4,20; See Leviticus 21:11; Numbers 6:6; 9:7 where the Hebrew word nephesh is translated "body," in the King James Version, thus hiding the fact that the Bible speaks of dead souls.) While it is true that the Bible does not directly say that the soul sleeps, the Bible does say that the soul dies. Since Jesus and others referred to death as sleep, the soul therefore enters the state of inactivity spoken of in the scriptures cited earlier. However, nowhere does the Bible say that the souls of redeemed ones enter into heaven at death.
(38) There are those who, in trying to hold to the idea that we do not really die, argue that after Lazarus died, the Lord, knowing beforehand that after just a few days he was going to raise his friend from the dead, kept his soul in a state of unconscious repose. Thus they claim that such an exception (and a few similar exceptions) would not prove the rule. An additional argument is that, Lazarus and others who were raised from the dead could have gone to heaven and yet were not permitted or not able to talk about their glorious experience. The Bible on the Life Hereafter, page 55.
(39) Of course, such reasoning does not do away with several facts: 1) No scripture speaks of the soul going to heaven at death. 2) Many scriptures speak of the soul dying at death. 3) Many scriptures describe death as a state of unconsciousness. 4) One has to read a lot into the scriptures that is not stated in order to come up with such an argument.
(40) But what if Lazarus did go to heaven when he died? Would not Jesus being doing a disservice instead of a service to bring him back into the present evil world? Or suppose Jesus had kept the soul of Lazarus in a state of unconsciousness so that he could not go to heaven, as has been suggested? Would not such interference have also been a disservice on the behalf of Jesus? Either assumption would present an unreasonable act by Jesus.
(41) But the "hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." (John 5:28,29) Notice that Jesus did not say: "all that are in eternal bliss and in eternal torment," but, "all that are in the graves," the death-state. "Ah, yes," some will say, "that means the bodies of the dead, it does not refer to their souls; it means that when Jesus calls, the souls of the saved and of the lost will fly back and re-inhabit their bodies. It is the bodies which are to rise, for it is only the bodies which pass into the death-state." But that was not what Jesus said. We have the united testimony of both science and the scriptures that the bodies will not be resurrected. Science demonstrates that the bodies are at death disintegrated into its various elements. The elements then may be recycled into plants are other substances. In turn the plants may be eaten by man or beast, thus forming a part of a new body, etc. It is then manifestly impossible for the same body to rise. But we do not need to rely on the testimony of science alone. The apostle Paul in answering this question: "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" did not say: "That is a peculiar question! Why do you ask: How are the dead to be raised, and with what BODY do they come'? Do you not know that the soul never dies, and that it is only the body which dies and requires to be resurrected?" No! What Paul did say was: "You foolish ones!...You do not sow that body that will be . . . but God gives it a body as it has pleased him, and to every seed his own body." (I Corinthians 15:35-38) What could be plainer than that? It is not merely the body but the soul that dies, as we read in Isaiah 53:12, of the Messiah: "he has poured out his soul unto death." It is not the body, therefore, but the soulthat is to be resurrected; and God shall give to each soul a body as it pleases him, according to what was sown in this lifetime.
Psalm 73:24,25
(42) Another scripture sometimes quoted to prove that the righteous go to their eternal reward at death is Psalm 73:24,25: "You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Who do I have in heaven but you?..." We assume that the argument is that Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, went to heaven when he died. However, the first part of verse 23, which is often left out when quoted, states: "Nevertheless, I am continually with you." The thought is that Asaph was looking to Jehovah in this present life. Of course, Jehovah is in heaven, but nothing is said about Asaph going to heaven. It is stated that he would be received to glory. As Paul explains, there are many kinds of glory. (1 Corinthians 15:40,41) Being received into glory says nothing about that glory being in heaven. The glory to which Asaph will be received "afterward" is to the glory man lost but which will be restored in the resurrection. (Psalm 8:4-6; Hebrews 2:6-9) Again, those who want to cling to their traditions are simply grasping for scriptures into which they wish to "read" something that is not there.
John 14:2
John 17:24, Romans 8:18, 1 Corinthians 13:12,13; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21,23; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation, chapters 4,5,7,12; Revelation 5:9; 14:3; 6:10; 7:15; and 20:4
(49) But some tell us: "As a result of the Messiah's atonement eternal death no longer exists for the believer. Spiritual death," they say, "is vanquished more and more in this life and completely when the child of God departs from his earthly enclosure. And physical death has been turned into gain." If by "eternal death," one means the eternal death inherited from Adam, it is true that, in Jehovah's sight, this death is no longer for the believer. That death, once a person appropriates to himself the benefits of the death of Jesus, no longer exists, as far as God is concerned. The person is then accounted as being alive, no longer dead. However, the scriptures speak nothing of "spiritual" death. (See later discussion of this topic***) It does speak of those who are reckoned dead due to sin or reckoned justified and alive in God's sight. -- Romans 4:3-24; 6:17-21; Matthew 22:32.
(50) "But," some may argue, "man is immortal, but only in the sense that his existence never ends, and that in the Bible only those are called immortal who have everlasting life in the Christ Jesus, and are destined to glorify him forever as to both soul and body." These evidently believe that one does not need to present any scripture that definitely states that man's existence never ends. They assume that this is so. They never present one scripture which so teaches, and conclude that all scriptures that teach that man's existence is not eternal do not really mean what they say. Also their belief that "in the Bible only those are called immortal who have everlasting life in Christ Jesus" is false. The Bible nowhere states this. It does speak of those who must "put on immortality." They did not then have immortality. The scripture statements that they were alive [in God's sight] does not mean that they possessed immortality before the resurrection.
Are Any Conscious In Hell?
(51) In the Hebrew scriptures (commonly called the Old Testament), the word that is used to name the grave, gravedom, or the death-state, in which all the dead are at rest, is Sheol (Strong's 7585). This word occurs 65 times altogether in the Hebrew scriptures. It is not, however, translated in the popular King James Version uniformly as "grave." Three times it is translated "pit," 31 times "grave," and 31 times "hell." The word "hell" occurs in the King James Version of the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) exactly 31 times; that is, the only Hebrew word translated "hell" is this word Sheol.2 The Hebrew Sheol corresponds to the Greek Hades, a word that appears in the "New Testament" to designate the same condition, the death-state. This is proved by the fact that the apostles Peter and Paul, in two quotations from the Hebrew Scriptures in which the word Sheol occurs, have translated it into the their writings by the Greek word Hades.3Compare Psalm 16:10 with Acts 2:27; and Hosea 13:14 with I Corinthians 15:55, and in the last named text note that in reference KJV Bibles the word "grave" has opposite to it in the margin the word "hell."
(52) It is very important that we should realize that there is no thought of eternal torment in the Bible use of the words Sheol or Hades. Let us see what Job said: "O that thou wildest hide me in sheol" -- that would be a strange desire if Sheol was a place or condition of eternal torment! "that thou wildest keep me secret" -- Ah, yes! That is the true thought; Sheol is the hidden state "until thy wrath [the present time of sin and evil] be past, that thou wildest appoint me a set time, and remember me [in the resurrection day]! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time [in death] will I wait, till my change [in the resurrection] come. Thou shalt call [Matthew 5:28, 29], and I will answer thee [by being awakened from death]; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." -- Job 14:13-15 KJV.
(53) In Hosea 13:14, we are assured that Sheol (hell, the death-state) is to be destroyed. It cannot, therefore, be an eternal place or condition of any kind whatever. The verse shows that it is by the resurrection that the death-state will be destroyed. The words of the prophet are: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave [Sheol]; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave [Sheol] I will be thy destruction (Strong's #6987, extermination]." The apostle Paul, alluding to this, exclaimed at the end of that wonderful chapter on the resurrection of the dead: "O death where is thy sting? O grave [Hades; marginal reading "hell"), where is thy victory?" -- I Corinthians 15:55.
(54) The very best of men, Jesus himself, went to hell [hades], not his body merely, but his soul. We learn this from the verse that has already been referred to, Acts 2:27, quoted from Psalm 16:10: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [hades]." Seeing that Jesus' soul went to hell, it is manifest that hell does not signify a place or condition of eternal torment, but the death-state. (For an explanation of 1 Peter 3:19 see discussion beginning with paragraph 169.) This agrees with the statement of the prophet: "He [Jesus] has poured out his soul unto death." Isaiah 53:12.
(55) Some declare that at times Sheol is a place of torture for the wicked, (Deuteronomy 32:22; Psalm 9:17; 55:15; Proverbs 15:11,24; etc.) that in other instances Sheol probably refers to the grave (Genesis 44:29,31; I Kings 2:6,9), and that in several other instances "state of death," "disembodied existence,"4 may well be what is meant (I Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 38:10). Those who take this position simply have a desire to give "Sheol" the meaning that best suits belief in Satan's lie that the dead are not really dead. In every instance, Sheol could and should very properly be rendered "the realm of death." We should note, however, the "state of death" [Sheol] is plainly described in Ecclesiastes 9:5,10.
(56) Some may ask: "If Sheol is the place to which all people go when they die, how can descent into that place be held up as a warning (Psalm 9:17; Proverbs 5:5; 7:27; 15:24; 23:14)?" This is a good question. But we should not assume that because Sheol is held up as a warning, that those who go there are conscious. Psalm 9;17 refers to the destruction of the nations at the great day of God the Almighty, when Jehovah executes his judgment the judgment placed upon Adam death. The references in Proverbs are general and referring to this life. For example, we might say to a child: "Don't walk in front a car or it might hit you and you could die." It could be said that by obeying this admonition the child would keep on living. This does not mean that child will neverdie. (Ecclesiastes 7:17) Likewise, by observing the admonitions given in Proverbs, we can keep ourselves from prematurely entering death and Sheol. But it does not mean that we will not someday die and go to Sheol.
(57) Another question one might ask is: "If Sheol is never a place of pain, how can Moses tell us that God's anger burns there (Deuteronomy 32:22)?" However, this is not what Deuteronomy 32:22 states. It does not say that God's anger burns in the lowest hell, but that his anger will burn (against the nation of Israel) to the extent of bringing them to the lowest realms of death. Their death would not be just an ordinary death, but a death of the most disgraceful sort. If we just think a little about what the context is saying, scriptures make sense, and we do not have to add Greek philosophies to them.
(58) Another claim made is: "If the Law and the Prophets teach that at death everybody goes to the dreary abode of the sheol, how then is it that believers faced death with joyful expectation (Numbers 23:10; Psalm 16:9-11; 17:15; 73:24-26)?"
(59) When we look at Numbers 23:10, we find that Balaam was not looking forward to death with joyful anticipation, but rather that he desired that when he died, that he die the death of the righteous. Again, we must look at the context. (Numbers 22:1 through 24:25) Balaam knew he had sinned and was fearful for his life. He did not want to die with the sin upon him. However, Balaam evidently thought he could outsmart the blessing that Jehovah was giving Israel by suggesting that Balak could seduce Israel into disobedience. If Israel disobeyed Jehovah, he thought, then Israel would not receive God's blessing and he could obtain the rewards being offered him from Balak if he could cause. (Numbers 22:4-7; 23:17-22; 25:1-3) This, of course, did not work, as Jehovah curses Midian. (Numbers 25:16-18) Thus Balaam did not die the death of the righteous as he had hoped, but rather he died with the Midianites. (Numbers 31:8) Thus we see that once we take the context into consideration, Numbers 23:10 does not provide an example of a believer facing death with joyful expectation.
(60) Psalm 16:9-11 is prophetic of Jesus' joyfulness, not about entering Sheol, but that his soul would not remain in Sheol. (See Acts 2:22-36) Similarly in Psalm 17:15, David is satisfied, not about going into Sheol, but being awakened therefrom and becoming in the likeness of God. Psalm 73:24-26 does not refer to death at all, but to Asaph's walk with God before death.
(61) Some claim that Leviticus 26:28 and Luke 12:47,48 refer to degrees of punishment in Sheol. Actually neither of these scriptures refer to punishments in Sheol. The first applies to Israel as a nation here upon the earth as the context indicates. Luke 12:47,48 refers to servants of Jesus living in the end of the age when he returns and to the things they will have to go through either during the tribulation period or else during the resurrection day. (Luke 12:42,43; Matthew 24:45,46) Neither scripture says anything about these punishments or chastisements coming during death.
Isaiah 14:9
(62) Isaiah 14:9 is sometimes quoted as proof that the saints will recognize each other in heaven. This scripture depicts the cessation of Babylon's existence as the world power, as shown from Isaiah 14:4. The context shows that there is no reference here to the saints nor to afterlife at all. Sheol is moved to meet Babylon when she comes to her destruction. When she does come to her destruction, the "dead" are stirred up, that is, all the chief ones of the earth. All the kings of the nations raise up from a death-like state to their thrones. In Babylon's period of glory all other nations were lying down as dead. The other nations had become dormant, as though buried. Babylon would not join the other nations in such a burial condition. Babylon would be completely cut off. But with Babylon's downfall, all other nations are stirred up. (Isaiah 14:4-23) And so, today, while we still have Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, etc., with us, Babylon has long ago ceased to exist. Babylon did not just go into a slumber, as in Sheol a death-like state from which to later be awakened. Babylon's empire is gone forever! Thus there is nothing in Isaiah 14 about whether the dead who supposedly go to heaven at death will recognize each other there. Notice how those who want to hold to Satan's lie take symbolic phrases out of context to support Satan's claim.
Thus, again we see that the Bible's hope is the resurrection of souls from Sheol/Hades, not in the supposed immortality of a soul or spirit being that survives the body. "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. Death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them." (Revelation 20:13) What a marvelous prospect! Next we will discuss the rich man in Hades. This parable has often been quoted as proof that the bad will suffer in eternal torment after death. But does it? What will a close examination of this parable in the light of the context show us?
The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
(63) It is evident from the whole setting of this passage that it is a parable. Otherwise the logical lesson to be drawn from it is that unless we are poor beggars, full of sores, we will never enter eternal bliss; and that future torment will be our portion if we happen to wear fine linen and purple and fare sumptuously every day. And, if taken literally, those who are poor are taken, not to heaven, but to Abraham's bosom. However, the context of this passage shows that Christ in this parable was teaching a great dispensational truth, namely, the change of favor from the Mosaic Law Covenant to the Covenant of faith. (Luke 16:16-18; Galatians 3:6-29) If you read carefully the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, you will see that Jesus was merely repeating in vivid pictorial language what Moses had already said. See particularly verses 20 to 29; and also Paul's quotation of the 21st verse in Romans 10:19, where he shows that Moses' prophecy referred to the overthrow of Israel consequent upon Jesus' rejection of that nation.
Notes to paragraph 63:
(a) Jesus was evidently drawing upon something that was in the real world of his day, the apostate Jewish belief which blended the Grecian mythologies into the Bible. Not all the Jewish leaders believe in these mythologies, but many did. Nevertheless, the Pharisees, whom Jesus was speaking to, knew of these beliefs. He used their own beliefs, not to condone their apostate mythology, but to illustrate the change he had just spoken of: "The law and the prophets were until John." -- Luke 16:16.
(b) Some other reasons that this story should be viewed as a parable:
To think that Jesus was supporting the idea of eternal roasting after death by use of this parable is contrary to God's justice, for justice demanded the forfeiture of man's life for sin (Genesis 2:17), for "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and of God it is said (Psalm 145:20): "all the wicked will he destroy." Therefore, it would be an infraction of God's justice for him to preserve the wicked for eternity in order to see them suffer for eternity without end.
Additionally, such a conclusion violates God's wisdom, for wisdom devises plans which useful ends are attained. There is surely no useful purpose in keeping the rich man eternally in a place of torture.
Of course, the parable says nothing about the rich man remaining in hades for eternity, but as Revelation 20:13 shows, all in hades will be brought back for the judgment day, and then hades will be destroyed in the lake of fire. -- Revelation 20:14; See also Hosea 13:14.
If the rich man were in literal flames in hades, this could contradict the entire testimony of the rest of the Bible, which shows that sheol/hades is nothingness, oblivion, silence, destruction. -- Ecclesiastes 9:10; Psalm 6:5; 115:17; 146:3,4; Isaiah 38:18; 63:16; Job 14:21; etc. This has been showned throughout this publication. See also Hell in the Bible
It would contradict God's stated purpose to bless all the heathen in the age to come. -- Genesis 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; Psalm 72:11; 82:8; 86:9; 102:15; Isaiah 2:2; 25:7; 52:10; Galatians 3:8; Revelation 15:4; 22:2.
See: Restoration of All Things
http://reslight.net/restorationofall.html
It would contradict the ransom, which is clearly taught, for example, in 1 Corinthians 15:3,21,22, Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:6, which scriptures teach that Christ died (not suffered eternal torment) for our sins according to the Hebrew scriptures. The prophecy of Isaiah 53:4-12 shows that our Lord would bear our penalty (which is death --Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23 -- not eternal torment), pouring out his soul to death. The effect of this ransom is to be the salvation of all men, not the eternal suffering of the vast majority. (1 Timothy 4:10; 1 John 2:2) See The Ransom for All.
(64) How, then, is this parable to be explained in harmony with what Jesus was speaking of, and in harmony with the rest of the Bible? The rich man of the parable represented the proud and self-righteous of the Jewish nation in our Savior's time, seeking righteousness by means of the Law Covenant. (Galatians 2:21; Philippians 3:9; Romans 9:31,32) The Pharisees seem to be particularly represented by the Rich Man. (Luke 16:14,15) The scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses seat' (Matthew 23:2) as the religious leaders and representatives in Israel. (Matthew 23:5-7) The rich nan's clothing of purple and fine linen represented the honors and privileges accorded to the scribes and Pharisees. (Matthew 23:5-7) The fine linen represented the self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, which they claimed by the Law. (John 9:40,41) The purple clothing represented royalty -- not only was purple the royal color in our Savior's day, but we still speak of royal purple. (Judges 8:26; John 19:2,3; Mark 15:17,18) The scribes and Pharisees were sitting in Moses' seat, therefore they had the purple in the sense that to it belonged the honor of being the typical Kingdom of God, and the promises respecting the future dominion of God as the Kingdom of God. The abundance of food upon the rich man's table represented the abundance of divine promises and blessings and instructions given to the scribes and Pharisees. (Romans 9:4,5) It was this table of divine favors that the apostle referred to saying: "What advantage does the Jew have? Much in every way, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God." (Romans 3:1-3) This was the table respecting which the prophet and the apostle spoke concerning Israel: "Let their table become a trap and a snare to them." (Romans 11:9) In other words, the very bounties and blessings of God's revelations or oracles tended to make them not humble, but proud, and ultimately assisted in their stumbling and rejection of the Savior due to their insistence of their righteousness by works of the Law. -- Romans 9:30-32.
(65) The scribes and Pharisees would not so much as eat with any they considered as sinners. (Matthew 9:11) They viewed Jewish sinners the same as if they were Gentiles, without law. Those who accepted the Messiah's teachings were of this lowly Jewish class. Matthew, one of his apostles, was a tax collector, others were common fishermen. (Matthew 10:3; Mark 1:16,19) None of them were recognized by the religious aristocracy of the time. They were looked down upon, declared not to be heirs with the holy Pharisees and educated Scribes and Doctors of the Law. The Pharisees even determined that Jesus himself was not only a friend of publicans and sinners but an injurious person who must not be allowed to live. (Matthew 12:14) From the Jewish leaders' standpoint Jesus and his followers were all outside the gates, excluded from the special privileges and blessings of God through the "righteousness" Law. These lowly Jewish followers of Jesus were the first of the Lazarus class.
(66) The Lazarus class also later included those Gentiles of humble heart who accepted Jesus, thus becoming Jews inwardly and participants in the Abrahamic promises. (Colossians 3:11; Galatians 3:28,29; Romans 2:28,29; 10:12) As an illustration of how these fed on the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table let us remember Jesus' words to the Syrophenician woman, a Gentile who came to him entreating for the healing of her daughter. Our Master, to illustrate the relative position of the Jews and Gentiles from God's standpoint, said to her: "It is not proper to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs." (Matthew 15:26) In other words, Jesus was saying: It would not be proper for me to devote my time and energies to the blessing of yourself and daughter, who are Gentiles, because the Jewish nation is by covenant in the favored place with God. Any special blessings and favors that God has to give must be given to them first of all. Non-Jews are not to expect to get the favors I was sent to give to Israel.' We remember his words to the disciples also: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, for I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." -- Matthew 15:24
(67) The message and blessings and opportunities could not go to the Gentiles until first they had been offered to the Jewish table (occupied by the rich man) and had been rejected by all except a remnant the Jewish Lazarus class who would seek righteousness by faith. (John 1:11,12; Romans 1:15; 2:9,10; 11:5; Matthew 22:3-10) But mark that as Lazarus got some of the "crumbs," according to the parable, so did the Syrophenician woman. She exclaimed: "True, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." (Matthew 15:27; Mark 7:28) Jesus answered her: "'O woman, your faith is great. Let it be to you even as thou desire.' And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." (Matthew 15:28) Jesus gave her the crumb of faith from the children's table -- the table being occupied by the rich man.
The Death of Lazarus
(68) In the context of this parable Jesus said the following: "The Law and the Prophets were until John. Since then the kingdom of God has been preached." (Luke 16:16, the added phrase, "and everyone is pressing into it", does not appear in older manuscripts, and thus we find it doubtful that Jesus added this phrase to the sentence.) To those who view this parable as literal, this statement would seem to be dealing with a completely different subject. Yet Jesus gave the parable as an illustration of this very statement. Jesus made a similar statement as recorded in Matthew 11:12,13: "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is pressing forward vigorously and those who are vigorous seize it eagerly. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
(69) Jesus also stated: "Whoever puts away his wife, and marries another, commits adultery: and whoever marries her that is put away from her husband commits adultery." (Luke 16:18) Again, this seems to be unrelated to the parable. However, it has much to do with the parable as we will see.
(70) The parable tells us: "The beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom." The death of the beggar illustrates the Jew who puts his faith in Jesus as figuratively dying with Jesus. Thus Paul says: "Do you not know, brothers, (for I speak to them that know the law,) that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman which has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives. But if the husband should die, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she should marry to another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband should die, she is free from that law; so she is no adulteress, though she should marry another man. Therefore, my brothers, you also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been delivered from the law, because being dead to that in which we were held, we should serve in a new manner by spirit, and not in the old manner by the letter." (Romans 7:1-6) Notice how well this parallels Luke 16:18, for like Lazarus, the Jew has to die to law covenant in order to belong to another, that is, Christ, the seed of Abraham. Not only that, the Gentile has to die to the law of his own justification by works in order to be part of the Abrahamic seed of faith.
(71) When Lazarus died, he was taken by the angels to Abraham's bosom. This signifies the faith-believing Jew becoming part of the true seed of Abraham in Jesus by promise apart from the Law. "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise." (Galatians 3:18) "When the full measure of time had come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4,5) They were being received into the favored position before God. -- Romans 4:13,14.
(72) Likewise, the believing Gentile also, being a law unto himself, had to die to the Law of Sin that ruled in his body. (Romans 2:12-15; 3:9-20) Thus both the believing Jew as well as the believing Gentile are represented in Lazarus.
The Death of the Rich Man
(73) John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees: "Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 3:10) The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes claimed to be the representatives of that Law. (Matthew 12:2; 19:3; 22:34-36; John 7:47-49) As a rich man riding upon the Law as a means to righteousness, they missed the righteousness of God. "Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. . . . For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God." -- Romans 9:31,32; 10:3
(74) Did the Jewish nation, seeking righteousness after the law, continue in the favor of God? Or, on the other hand did that nation die to special blessings and mercies of God that they previously so richly enjoyed? Shortly before Jesus died, he wept over Jerusalem and said: "Your house is left to you in desolation." Thus the parable continues: "The rich man also died, and was buried." With the rejection of the national polity of Jerusalem, the city of the Jews, rich man died, for he no longer had any standing before Jehovah. This was signified by the vail being ripped apart in the temple at Jesus' death. -- Mark 15:38.
The Rich Man in Torments
(75) Then we read that the rich man, in Hades, lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and he saw Abraham in the distance, and Lazarus in his bosom. So much were the Jewish leaders tormented by the change of conditions that they persecuted the followers of Jesus, even to putting them to death. The torment of the Jewish leaders is demonstrated at Acts 5:33, when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard the things Peter and the other apostles told them: "They were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them." They demonstrated a similar torment at the words of Stephen: "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth." (Acts 7:54) The fulfillment of this is also well-illustrated by Saul (before he became Paul the apostle), who was a Pharisee. Paul himself states: "For you have heard of my past conduct in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and destroyed it." (Galatians 1:13) "I actually thought to myself, that I should do many things to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. These things I did also in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I put into prison, having received authority from the chief priests. When they were being put to death, I gave my voice against them. I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme. Being exceedingly angry against them, I persecuted them even in foreign cities." (Acts 26:9-11) Their torment of feeling the rejection of God by the preaching of Jesus' followers led them to try to prove that they had not been rejected. A successful revolt against the Roman yoke would be such a proof.
(76) The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus, that he might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool the rich man's tongue while he is tormented in the flames. (Luke 16:24) The rich nan is not here really wanting to receive help from the Lazarus class. He speaks, not to Lazarus, but to Abraham, asking for water from Lazarus. The Jewish leaders began to realize that something was happening. They did not want to admit that they had missed the Messiah. They wanted Messiah to deliver them, but on their own terms. Seeing Lazarus at a distance, they desired a Messiah, someone to deliver them from the torments they had come into. Especially were they seeking deliverance from the Roman yoke. In May, 66 CE, the group known as Zealots, with whom were joined Pharisees and Sadducees, openly rebelled against Roman rule. Under the leadership of one Joseph Ben Matthias, a Pharisee (better known as Flavius Josephus), the Jews repulsed the Roman armies for 47 days before surrendering the fortress of Jotapata. By seeking deliverance from another source than through faith in Jesus they in effect were saying to Abraham: "Send Lazarus over to us, that he may cool our tongue." Returning to the parable, Abraham reminded the rich man how he had the good things during his lifetime, while Lazarus received bad things. The rich man had all the favors -- the Law and the Prophets. "To them were committed the oracles of God." (Romans 3:2) Now Lazarus was comforted with the knowledge of the Good News, while the rich man was in anguish. -- Luke 16:25; Acts 9:31; 2 Corinthians 1:3-6.
The Chasm
(77) Then Abraham informs the rich nan that there is a great chasm (canyon, gulf) between the rich man and himself. This chasm represents the difference between faith in Jesus and the seeking of righteousness through the Law. The rich nan, representing those holding to the Law and denying Jesus as the Messiah, could not cross over the chasm to the other side in an endeavor to blend faith in the Messiah with seeking righteousness by Law. Likewise, Lazarus, representing those who are justified by faith in Jesus apart from the works of the Law, could not cross the chasm to the other side so as to blend the two opposing parties. Any individual Jew putting faith in Jesus (apart from the Law) would be represented in the Lazarus class. Any individual Jew who continued in seeking righteousness according to the Law would be represented by the rich man class. The Jew could be represented by one or the other, but not both. One could not accept righteousness through faith in the Messiah and at the same time seek righteousness by Law. Such would be crossing the chasm, that is, trying to bring salvation by works of the Law over to the side of Lazarus, or trying to take salvation by faith in the Messiah over to the side of the rich man, neither of which could be done. -- Galatians 2:16,21.
The Rich Man's Brothers
(78) Next, the rich man, again addressing Abraham, asks for Lazarus to go to his father's house to warn his five brothers, that they not come into the place of torment he was in. (Luke 16:28) In the years 67-68 CE many Jews were taken prisoners by Vespasian. A knowledge that God was punishing the chosen people was growing amongst many of the Jewish people who had been taken prisoners. Josephus was among these. Another Pharisee, Jochanan ben Zakkai, likewise began to recognize that it was not God's will for the Jews to be freed from the Romans. These prisoners and others, in effect, were asking Abraham for a Messiah, not to deliver the remaining revolting Jews from the Roman yoke, but to warn them of the tragedy that was to come if they continued in their revolt. In doing this, however, they still did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah nor his followers as the true Lazarus. They wanted a justification, a Lazarus who would come to help their "brothers" under the Law. Abraham replied that they had Moses and the Prophets; they could listen to them. These, we are told, would lead them to the Messiah. (Galatians 3:24) To send the true Lazarus class to the "brothers" of the rich man, would have necessitated the revoking of their death to sin and the law. (Romans 6:2,7,8,11; 7:4) To do so would have meant they would become "twice dead" condemned to death twice by the law of sin. Thus Abraham told the Rich Man that if his brothers would not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither would they listen to one who rose from the dead -- those dead with Messiah, who would have to renounce their death in Christ in order to again be alive to the Law. The remaining Jews in Jerusalem, Masada, etc., did not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they continued their rebellion until the city of Jerusalem with its temple was totally destroyed in the year 70 CE. In the year 73 the siege of Masada ended in disastrous results to the "brothers" of the rich man. Jesus does not take the narrative any further.
Note to Paragraph 78:
The number of "brothers" used in the parable is a total of six; the one who dies and the five who remain alive. We believe this number -- six -- the number of imperfection, is used to represent the unrighteous condition of the six brothers, that is, they had not been justified in the blood of the lamb.
(79) Some try to show that Abraham's bosom in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus represents heaven or paradise. They argue: "The fact that at death Abraham's soul went to heaven is plainly stated in Scripture (Hebrews 11:10,16; cf. Matthew 8:11)" Yet, neither Hebrews 11:10,16 nor Matthew 8:11 say anything about Abraham's continuance of life in heaven while in death. Those who refer to the scriptures in this manner desire to read into scripture something which is not there. Matthew 8:10-12 and Luke 13:28-30 depict the end results of the Jewish rejection of their Messiah in the resurrection. The Kingdom was taken from them and given to a nation producing its fruitage. (Matthew 21:43) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sit in this kingdom because it is this nation that becomes the seed of Abraham. Of course, the language of the parable is pictorial, not to be taken literally. The children of the kingdom, the Jews as a whole, were cast out into outer darkness. There they were weeping and gnashing their teeth. They were cast out when Jesus stated: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem you who killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent to you how often I would have gathered your children together, as hen gathers her offspring under her wings, but you would not allow it! Look, your house is left to you in desolation. Truly I say to that you will not see until the time comes when you will say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah!'" (Luke 13:34,35) In all this there is no reference to a living existence of Abraham going to heaven when he died.
(80) Likewise Hebrews 11:10,16 refers to the city that will come down from heaven in the next age. (Revelation 21:1-4) Thus it will be in the time when Abraham will be resurrected, and the time when God himself is spoken of as dwelling with men. Hebrews 11:35 indicates that the resurrection, not an undieable soul, is referred to. Abraham did not receive the promise, we are told, nor was he made perfect before the believers in the Messiah. (Hebrews 11:39,40) Nothing is stated in the scriptures cited nor in the context to the effect that Abraham's soul went to heaven when he died.
Death and Restoration to Life
(81) When Adam sinned, the sentence of death was passed not only upon him but also upon the whole human race yet unborn. Many deny this, and say that God would not condemn the whole race because of one man's sin; but we see this law in operation every day. They overlook the fact that through the law of heredity children suffer because of the sins of their fathers. As the prophet expresses it: "The fathers have eaten the sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge." (Jeremiah 31:29) It was a dying life that the dying Adam gave to the race. The stream was contaminated at its source. Accordingly, "there is none righteous, no, not one." All are guilty before God, and all therefore, have been justly condemned to death. This is known as the doctrine of man's original sin. It is exactly what Paul tells us in Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."; also in the 18th verse: "By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation." Again in I Corinthians 15:22: "In Adam all die." There is nothing more plainly taught in the Scriptures than this doctrine of man's original sin.
(82) Those who are dead in Adam have been condemned to death because of innate sin. God, the righteous Judge, is completely righteous. He hates sin, and could not allow any imperfect sinful being to have eternal life. In this is seen the justice of God; but now, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, the Anointed died for us." (Romans 5:8) He "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever exercises faith in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -- John 3:16.
(83) To believe in Christ does not mean merely that mental form of belief that says: "I believe that there was such a man as Jesus Christ, and that He was put to death by the Romans," not that kind of belief, but the kind that is a living faith, that trusts in God and says: "I believe that God so loved the world that He gave His Son to be the Savior of mankind, and I believe God's promise that I am justified by my faith. Because of this faith, I further believe that I must obey the commandments of Jesus in demonstration of my faith." -- James 2:14-26; 1 John 5:1-3.
(84) Those who exercise this living faith in Jesus pass from death unto life. (See John 5:24) Not that they have actual life; but God reckons, imputes, or counts (Greek, logizomai) it to them because his justice has been satisfied by the death of the Messiah, and they have accepted the provision that he has made for them in the Messiah. -- Romans 4:23-25.
(85) Not only this, but even those who lived before the Messiah who exercised faith in God's promises were reckoned with God to be justified by their faith. Therefore they, too, are counted as being alive before God. Abraham is a prime example of this. (Romans 4:2,3,16-22; Matthew 22:31,32) Jehovah God, by calling things that are not as though they are (Romans 7:14), could look at their faith in the promises of the coming Messiah and reckon them justified based on the coming redemption through the Messiah.
(86) In John 8:51, we find these words of Jesus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." Does this mean that those who believe and obey Jesus are now never to die? No; if that were the case none of the apostles would have died. But having the assurance of the resurrection, these are no longer children of wrath as are others, and therefore view death as only a sleep from which they will be awakened. And as we have already seen, in God's sight they remain alive.
(87) Therefore we see that in the death-state, there are two classes: the just and the unjust. And it is these two classes that are to come forth from the dead: "There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just [justified] and the unjust [those not justified]." -- Acts 24:15.
The First Resurrection
(88) Some of the justified, through sacrifice of their justified "bodies", are chosen by God to be kings and priests with the Lord Jesus. (Romans 8:11; 21:1; Revelation 5:10) This call for participants in the Kingdom with the Messiah began with the death of John the Baptist. (Luke 16:16; Romans 8:17) However, many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14) These few chosen ones are those who finally make the mark of the high calling. (Philippians 3:13,14) They are numbered as 144,000 who are sit upon the heavenly Mount Zion with the Lamb, our Lord Jesus. (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1-3) In Revelation 7:1-4, we see that the selection of these joint-heirs end when the winds of destruction begin to blow.
(89) These are those who are counted "dead in the Messiah" because of their reaching the mark of the high calling in sacrificing their reckoned "living bodies". -- (Romans 12:1) In I Thessalonians 4:16 we read: "The dead in the Messiah will rise first." And in Revelation 20:6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years." In Romans 8:17, these are told that they must joint-suffer with the Messiah before they can be joint-heirs with him. If faithful unto death -- a sacrificial death after the Messiah's likeness, then these receive the crown of life, and then, when they are reigning with the Messiah they are like Him, for they will be raised in the likeness of His glorious spiritual body. They are pictured as standing on the Mt. Zion in heavenly Jerusalem -- Revelation 2:10; I John 3:2; Philippians 3:21; Revelation 14:1.
The Rest of the Just
(90) But what about those of the justified that do not make the high calling? The term "First Resurrection" implies that there will be another, and that is exactly what we are told in the Scriptures. Not all the justified take part in the first resurrection. Those who are called but fail to make the mark of the high calling still retain their justification, except those that commit the sin unto death from which there is no repentance. (I John 5:16; Hebrews 6:4-6) If they remain faithful in the blood of the Messiah, they are still reckoned alive and their bodies are still alive in God's sight. So when they come forth in the resurrection, it will be not to a heavenly Zion, as the 144,000, but to the earth, and not in a spiritual body but a glorified earthly body. (I Corinthians 15:35,47; Hebrews 2:7) This will be the lot of all the "justified" who lived before the Messiah as well as those who lived after the Messiah that do not become of the 144,000 chosen ones to reign on the throne with the Messiah.
The Resurrection of the Unjust
(91) But what about the rest of mankind? The Bible tells us that there will a resurrection, not only of the just, but also of the unjust. (Acts 24:15) Why are the unjust to be raised? Traditional theology says they are to be raised simply to be condemned again. That is why the translators of the King James Version of the Scriptures translated the Greek word krisis in John 5:29, by the word "damnation," whereas the proper rendering is "judgment" as in the American Standard Version and many other translations. The King James Version does render krisis as "judgment" in John 5:22 and John 5:30, as well as many other places: Matthew 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:20,36,41,42; Luke 10:14; 11:31,32,42; John 7:24; 8:16; 2 Peter 2:4,9; 3:7; 1 John 4:17; etc. What Jesus said was: "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth: they that have done good [the justified before the Messiah came, as well as those justified through belief in the Messiah] unto the resurrection of life [their trial is past; they have proved themselves worthy of life by means of their faith]; and they that have done evil [the unjust], unto the resurrection of judgment." Krisis means a trial or testing followed by a sentence, which sentence will depend on the person's innocence or guilt. The English word "crisis" is derived from the Greek krisis. It is used in reference to any condition of affairs in which the issue is as yet undecided; and those who are interested are in anxious suspense, watching whether the result will be success or failure, life or death.
(92) After a judicial sentence has passed, the person is no longer on his trial; his judgment is over. The world in general, the unjust, have never been on trial as individuals. The trial of their federal head took place at the beginning in the Garden of Eden, and the sentence or condemnation was passed then. The whole race has been born under the sentence of condemnation, born in sin and shapen in iniquity,' (Psalm 51:5) and the vast majority have died without having escaped from that condemnation, and therefore, without any individual trial. Unlike those who have died in the Messiah, of whom Paul wrote: "there is therefore now no condemnation (Greek, katakrima, judgment against - Strong's 2631) to them that are in the Messiah Jesus" (Romans 8:1), the unjust died without any real faith, or without any faith at all "in that only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) That is why they are called unjust; they have not been justified. Comparatively few of earth's inhabitants have heard of the Messiah. Think of the millions who died before the Son of God came to give himself "a ransom for all," and concerning whom Paul wrote that they had "no hope," and were "without God in the world"! (Ephesians 2:12) Think of the millions upon millions of people living in so-called heathen lands today, who, without having heard the name of Jesus, are dying at the rate of more than 100,000 every day! Then again, think of the vast multitude who, though they have heard something about the message of the Bible, have never understood the Glad Tidings of great joy, which the angel said would be to all people! None of these have had an individual trial, because the condemnation to death was passed upon them on account of Adam's disobedience.
(93) They are coming forth from the death-state in order to be judged, to undergo a crisis for determination for their fitness life or death. We are assured of this, because we are told that Jesus "by the grace of God tasted death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9), that "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our's [the believers'] only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (I John 2:2) The teaching of the Scriptures is clear that Adam sold the whole race under sin to death (Romans 7:14), and that the Messiah bought the whole race with His precious blood, and that "to this end the Messiah both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living." (Romans 14:9) It is clear, also, that the only way by which any can get eternal life is through faith in the death and resurrection of the Messiah. We are told by Jesus himself: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6); and again, Paul tells us that neither Jews nor Gentiles could justify themselves by works, and it was for this reason that God sent forth His Son the Messiah Jesus "to be a propitiation [satisfaction] through faith in his blood [death]." (Romans 2:14,15; 3:9,10,25) It was because of this that God our Savior has arranged that all shall come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4) That which enables Him to do this, to be "just and [still] the justifier," is the fact that the man the Messiah Jesus, the mediator between God and men, "gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified [to all] in due time." I Timothy 2:5,6.
(94) Remember that we are not the judges as to who have had, and who have not had a full opportunity for salvation in the present lifetime. It is a good thing for men are prone to be severe in their judgment of others. You would think that if any have had an opportunity for salvation, the Jews who impaled the Messiah surely had. They did not merely go to a church and hear a minister preach about the Messiah; instead they actually saw the Messiah himself, they heard the gracious message from His own mouth, and they saw the wonderful works that He did, and yet they cried for his execution! Why, you will say, if anyone had responsibility those Jews had, and if any suffer eternal condemnation those Jews must. Yet what did the apostle Peter say: "I know that you did it in ignorance." (Acts 3:17, New King James Version) And Paul said: "Had they known it, they would not have [impaled] the Lord of Glory." (I Corinthians 2:8) And Jesus said: "If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge [Greek, krino, Strong's #2919] him in the last day." (John 12:47,48) The "god of this world," Satan, "hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." -- 2 Corinthians 4:4.
(95) If God sees that anyone has full knowledge of his responsibilities now but who will not obey the good news, He will not give such a person a further opportunity. What would be the use? We must remember, however, that God is full of loving-kindness, "for his mercy endureth forever." In Hebrews 6:4-6, He has given an indication as to what He regards as a full opportunity. If Jehovah sees that an individual has never heard or never sufficiently understood the glad message of salvation, that individual will get an opportunity in the resurrection of judgment.
(96) This does not mean, however, a license for sin or indifference in this lifetime, for we are told that there will be a measure of future punishment according to the measure of present responsibility. As a man sows, so shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7) In the last day it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for the people of Palestine, for the Sodomites sinned in much greater ignorance than the Jews. (Matthew 11:23,24) We can leave the matter quite safely with out loving God, Jehovah.
(97) We have, however, this assurance, that as all men were condemned in the one man, Adam, and not one of them was asked whether he wanted to be condemned in Adam or not, so all men, either in this lifetime or in the resurrection, will get the free gift of justification to life because of the one Savior, Jesus the Messiah. "As by the offence of one judgment came upon ALL men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon ALL men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:18,19) "As in Adam all die, even so in the Messiah shall all be made alive." -- 1 Corinthians 15:22.
Jehovah's Plan
(98) Jehovah's ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts. Jehovah's ways and thoughts are as much higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth. (Isaiah 55:8,9) He is longsuffering. His plan is to allow mankind to pass through a dreadful night of sorrow and death as a consequence of sin, and He is waiting till that lesson has been fully learned. In the meantime, other features of Jehovah's plan are being accomplished. From amongst the early disciples, God was selecting the a number of joint-heirs to reign with the Messiah. (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 5:8-10; 14:1-4; 7:1-4; Romans 8:17) Others that did not attain to the mark of the high call to be joint heirs with Messiah, but remained faithful, are still "heirs of God." (Galatians 3:29; Romans 8:17) And now in these last days there are those who have washed their garments in the blood of the Messiah, and are being prepared for temple service here on the earth. (Revelation 7:9-17; 21:1-4) All of these share with Jesus in blessing the world as heirs of God.
(99) We have seen, then, that the world in general was condemned in Adam, and that the people will come forth from the death-state to their first individual trial. That is the purpose for which Messiah is coming to reign. "Because he [God] hath appointed a day in the which he will judge [Greek, Krino, Strong's # 2919] the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:31) There is great comfort in that word "assurance"; and notice that the assurance is not to some but "to all men." What an assurance it is to know that the world is to be judged by the meek and gentle Jesus! The followers of the Messiah are to be associated with Him in this glorious work, as we read: "Do ye not know that the saints [dedicated ones] shall judge the world?" (I Corinthians 6:2) That is the reason why the followers of the Messiah MUST develop the fruits of the Spirit. -- Galatians 5:22-23.
(100) Those who claim that faith without works is sufficient, are shutting their eyes to the plain statements of the Scriptures, that faith without works is dead. (James 2:26) In I Corinthians 13:1-3, it is solemnly declared that we may have all knowledge and such great faith we could move mountains, and yet, if we have not love, it profits us nothing. No one will receive a high position in the kingdom except that by the help of God he builds on the foundation of faith and knowledge the superstructure of love. (II Peter 1:3-9) Before we can be entrusted with the work of judging the world with the Messiah, we must prove that "love" is the great motive power of all our words and actions. Not that God expects of us perfection in the our present fallen condition, but we must grow in his loving kindness and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, becoming "imitators of God" to the best of our ability. -- Ephesians 5:1.
(101) If we do this, trusting in the blood of the Messiah, we will be accepted, not because of our own merit, but because of the merit of the Messiah. As Paul says: "we are accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:6) Those who are faithful unto the end will hear their Lord say to them: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." -- Matthew 25:21.
The World's Judgment Day
(102) The Judgment Day is usually thought to be a day of twenty-four hours; but Peter, speaking of that day, says: "Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord [Jehovah] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." -- II Peter 3:8.
(103) In the "day" of the world's judgment, the thousand-year reign of the Messiah, conditions will be in most respects the very reverse of what they are now. The present time is a dark night of sorrow, suffering, and death. (Psalm 30:5) That will be a righteous day, when "sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isaiah 35:10) A false theology has taught the people to dread the day of judgment, whereas the Scriptures speak of it as a gladsome time "Say among the nations, [Jehovah] reigns; and, The world shall be established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples in uprightness. Let the heavens be glad, let the sea roar, and the fullness of it. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; then the trees of the forest shall rejoice before [Jehovah]; for He comes; for He comes to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth." -- Psalm 96:9-13, King James II Version.
(104) In that day the earth will be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea, and it will no longer be necessary for anyone to go from house to house, stand on street corners or mount a platform to tell the people about Jehovah, for everyone will know Jehovah from the least of them to the greatest of them. (Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 31:34) That will indeed be a glorious time. It will be a marked contrast to the present time when "darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people." (Isaiah 60:2) Very few indeed know God at this time. Many believe that the Bible teaches eternal torment. Some time ago, two men were sentenced for throwing a dog into a furnace and watching its agony till it died. The judge rightfully characterized their conduct as brutal. Yet many who would shudder at the bare narrative of such brutality, profess to believe that God is torturing not dogs but human beings, not for a few moments till death ends the scene but for all eternity! What an awful and blasphemous conception of our Creator!
(105) Our heart rejoices to have the glad assurance of God's Word that in the glorious Millennial reign of the Messiah, the day of the world's judgment, all men's eyes will be opened to see that "GOD IS LOVE." See in the twenty-fifth chapter of Isaiah what the prophet tells us of that glorious Millennial Day! "He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering that covers ALL PEOPLE, and the veil [of blindness] that is woven over ALL NATIONS. He will swallow up death in victory! And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces....And one will say in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us. This is Jehovah; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:7-9) Notice that it is AFTER the people come forth from their graves that God will save them!
(106) There are still more privileges for the world of mankind. In the present age the way to life is narrow, and "few be that find it." Satan still "walks about as a roaring lion," seeking whom he many devour. But in the Millennial Age a "highway of holiness" will be set up -- not a narrow difficult way, but a highway, an easy way, in which even fools will not err. And there will be no "lion" there, for Satan is to be bound during the thousand years. (Isaiah 35:8-10; Revelation 20:2) Satan's evil influence will be restrained, and then the present aims of making the world a better place to live will be attained. Neither social ills nor any kind of evil will be any longer permitted.
(107) One important reason why men persist in doing evil in the present time, is because they are not always punished at once for every sinful act and word. As the wise man said: "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Is not that true? Why are our jails overcrowded with prisoners? Simply because that men recognize that the chances of escaping punishment are great, and they are willing to run the risk of being convicted. When the Messiah is reigning king, this evil condition will abolished. In Isaiah 26:9, we are told that when the judgments of Jehovah are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. In that day Jehovah will no longer permit wickedness to flourish. There will be a just measure of punishment for every sinful act and word, and this punishment will bring about reformation of character.
(108) We believe that the Millennial reign of the Messiah is very near at hand, even at the door; but we are not to understand that perfect peace and righteousness will prevail from its very start. Many have false ideas with regard the Millennium. They think everything will immediately be perfect. But this will not be the case. Speaking of the new heavens and the new earth that will be established when the Messiah takes to Himself His great power and begins to reign, the Prophet says: "There shall no more come thence an infant of few days, nor an old man that shall not have full length of his days; for as a lad shall one die a hundred years old; and as a sinner shall be accursed he who dieth at a hundred years old." (Isaiah 65:20, Leeser's translation.) This shows that some will be sinners in that Millennial day, and that the incorrigible will possibly get at least a hundred years' trial. The apostle Paul states plainly (I Corinthians 15:25) that the Messiah "must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." In other words, the Millennium will not be a time of perfect peace and righteousness; it is the "day" appointed by God for the purpose of ESTABLISHING perfect peace and righteousness. -- Acts 17:31.
(109) By the end of the Millennium, all mankind will have had restored to them the perfection that was lost by Adam, the perfect human nature; and the whole earth will be restored to the former paradise condition of Eden. (Acts 3:21; Isaiah 35) Then, the thousand years being finished, Satan is to be loosed for a little season. (Revelation 20:3) "Why!" some will say, "that will mar everything! Why should Satan be loosed after paradise is restored?" When Adam and Eve in the beginning were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were perfect, but God permitted Satan to tempt them. Why? In order to test their loyalty to Him and to righteousness. They failed. Sin entered into the world and death through sin; hence all the present sighing, crying and pain, which have continued now for six thousand years, and by means of which men have been learning the bitter lesson of the sinfulness of sin. (Romans 7:13) The Messiah will soon begin his glorious reign. He will call, and all the dead will come forth from the death-state. Those who in the past shared the Messiah's sufferings and death will now share his glory, and will with the Messiah reign over and judge all those who have died in Adam. These will be gradually lifted up to the perfection lost by Adam, and then, when they have learned the blessings of righteousness and the value of submission to the Lord Jesus, Satan will be permitted to tempt them. Why? For the same reason that he was permitted to tempt Adam and Eve -- to test their loyalty to God and to righteousness. We do not know how many will fail, but surely after the long experiences of both sin and righteousness, comparatively few will follow Satan, for all will have had practical experience of the love as well as of the justice of God. Those who do fail will be destroyed in the second death.
The Second Death (Editing this section; need to add many scriptural references)
(110) The first death is the death in Adam, but any who die the second death in no sense die due to Adam. In the Millennial Age each will receive an individual trial, and all who die will die as the result of their own sin, no longer because of Adam’s sin. This will be their second death, their first being the death they suffered in the past on account of Adam’s disobedience. — Romans 5:12,18.
(111) The second death is pictured as a “lake of fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8), a forceful figure of complete destruction — a death from which there will not be a resurrection: for “Christ dies no more,” there will not be a second ransom for those who willfully practice sin after receiving the benefits of the ransom. (Romans 6:9) In the Greek text of the Bible, from which our translations are made, the second death is sometimes referred to symbolically as “Gehenna”, one of the three Greek words translated “hell” in the King James Version of the Bible. “Gehenna” is the Greek form of the name “Valley of Hinnom”, the valley situated immediately outside Jerusalem below Mount Zion. Jesus' description of Gehenna leads us to believe that the Valley of Hinnon at that time was the garbage dump of the city. Evidently, fires were kept constantly burning in it and brimstone was added for the purpose of aiding the work of destruction. In addition to garbage being thrown in this valley, Jesus' descriptions indicates that sometimes bodies of some were thrown into the valley, possibly to disallow their bodies from being buried in grave. Their bodies being destroyed in the fires of the Valley of Hinnom would appear to signify that they were so evil in this life that they were unworthy of life even in the resurrection. Nevertheless, we see that there is no idea of eternal torture associated with Gehenna as representing the second death. It means a condition of everlasting destruction. This is just what the Psalmist said: “Jehovah preserves all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy”, not preserve in any condition whatsoever. It should be obvious that "destroy" is being used as meaning the opposite of "preserve". — Psalm 145:20.
(112) At any rate, Jesus used the fires of Gehenna as a symbol — not of torture, but of destruction. Some, however, regard the literal fires spoken of in the valley that were continually kept burning as being a literal description of a supposed life in hell. Yet if Jesus were speaking literally, then we should expect that the wicked would literally be thrown into the Valley of Hinnom where their bodies would either be literally burned up by fires or literally consumed by the worms. If he was speaking literally, one still could find any idea of conscious suffering after death; such an idea would still have to be made up beyond what Jesus said, and it would further mean that one would not be actually applying Jesus' word literally, but rather figuratively. Actually, the “fire that is not put out,” the “worms,” and all the language used in connection with Gehenna we believe is literal, but Jesus' usage of these literal things is figurative. God’s jealousy for his name and righteousness is never quenched. Jehovah’s zeal or jealousy for righteousness will never be extinguished. Thus we read that “all the earth will be consumed by the fire of his [Jehovah’s] jealousy.” (Zephaniah 1:18) “For you must not bow yourself to another god; for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, he is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) “With foreign gods they moved him [Jehovah] to jealousy; and with idols they provoked him to anger; they sacrificed to demons, not God.” (Deuteronomy 32:16,17) “And Judah did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.” (1 Kings 14:22) “And my anger will be spent, and I will make my fury rest on them, and I will be eased. And they will know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, in my fulfilling my fury on them.” (Ezekiel 5:13) “Surely I have spoken in the fire of my jealousy against the rest of the nations.” (Ezekiel 35:5) Worms (or maggots) that consumed the body of the criminals thrown into the Valley of Hinnom represents the utter destruction, not torture, of those thrown therein. These maggots were ever present in the valley. Thus they never died out. Likewise, those who are symbolically thrown into the fires of Gehenna find that there are always consuming worms [elements of destruction] ever present to destroy those who prove themselves unwilling to produce the fruits of the kingdom.
(114) Thus we see that there is no idea of eternal torture associated with Gehenna, the second death. It means a condition of everlasting destruction. This is just what the Psalmist said: "Jehovah preserves all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy", not preserve in any condition whatsoever. -- Psalm 145:20.
(115) Some would have us believe that the English word "hell" indicates the place of everlasting punishment for the wicked. It is true that in modern times hell has come to have this meaning. But it is not the basic meaning of the English word hell. Note the following:
From:
The New Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia (TM) (c) 1991 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.
hell
Hell traditionally denotes the place or state of being of unrepentant souls who are damned to eternal punishment after death. Derived from the Old Teutonic word hel, meaning "to conceal" or "to cover," the word hell is used in English translations of the Bible to represent both the Hebrew Sheol, an ethically neutral underworld for the departed, and the Greek Gehenna, the underworld for the punishment of the wicked from which the Christian concept of hell developed.
We have added bold characters for emphasis.
From:
American Heritage Dictionary
Copyright (C) 1982 by Houghton Mifflin Company All Rights Reserved
hell n. 1. The abode of the dead in ancient traditions; underworld. 2. Often Hell. In many religions, the abode of condemned souls and devils; the place of punishment for the wicked after death. 3. A place or situation of evil, misery, discord, or destruction: into the hell of battle. 4. a. Torment; anguish: went through hell on the job. b. Someone or something that causes trouble, agony, or annoyance: He's hell when a job is poorly done. 5. Hell. Christian Science. Mortal belief; sin or error. 6. A sharp scolding: gave him hell for cheating. 7. a. A tailor's receptacle for discarded material. b. A hellbox. 8. Used as an intensive: How the hell can I go? You did one hell of a job.- intr. v. helled, helling, hells. Informal. To behave riotously; carouse: out all night helling around.-interj. Slang. Used to express anger, disgust, or impatience.-idioms. hell or ( or and) high water. Informal. Troubles or difficulties of whatever magnitude: We're staying, come hell or high water. hell to pay. Informal. Bad trouble to be faced: If he's wrong, there'll be hell to pay. [ME helle < OE]
Thus the dictionary gives as the basic meaning of the English word "hell" as "the abode of the dead", which we believe more correctly should be "the realm of death." We also note that the Grolier Encyclopedia shows that the English word hell comes from the Tuetonic word hel, meaning to cover or conceal. Thus it corresponds with the description of Sheol as given in Ecclesiastes 9:10.
The Meek Inherit the Earth
(116) During the 1,000 years of Jesus' rule, those who resist Satan and who are loyal to God and to righteousness, who love Jehovah their God with all their heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, will pass on into the Ages to follow, when there will be "no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither will there be any more pain, for the former things will have passed away." It is at this time that the "meek inherit the earth" to dwell upon it forever. (Psalm 37:9,10,29; Matthew 5:5) Only those who worship God in spirit and in truth will attain to this condition of eternal bliss as perfect human beings on a perfect earth. Then, when the first dominion is restored, God's great plan of salvation will be complete, and the prayer that our Lord taught his disciples to offer will be answered: "Your kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven!" (Matthew 6:10) The angel's message will be fulfilled: "Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." -- Luke 2:10.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
(117) We have seen that Bible, from beginning to end, portrays man's hope of future life after death in the resurrection. Job prayed: "Grant that in Sheol you would hide me until your anger is past, that you would set a time for me, and remember me." (Job 14:13) This corresponds with what Jesus stated as recorded in John 5:28,29: "Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will forth to life; and those who did evil will come forth to judgement." Paul states: "If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not be raised either", "and if the Messiah has not been raised, your faith is pointless and you have not, after all, been released from your sins. In addition, those who have fallen asleep in the Messiah are utterly lost." (1 Corinthians 15:13,17,18, New Jerusalem Bible) Thus Paul considered the resurrection as the hope of life after death.
(118) We have set forth the basic scriptures pertaining to life after death. The scriptures show that until the resurrection takes place in the last day, both good and bad go to Sheol, the realm of death, or the condition of being dead. "It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day." "Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again.' Martha said, I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.' (John 6:40; 11:23,24, New Jerusalem Bible) Sheol is described in Ecclesiastes 9:10 (New Jerusalem Bible): "Whatever work you find to do, do it with your might, for there is neither achievement, nor planning, nor science, nor wisdom in Sheol where you are going." Thus Solomon describes living and the dead: "The living are at least aware that they are going to die, but the dead know nothing whatever. No more wages for them, since their memory is forgotten." -- Ecclesiastes 9:5, New Jerusalem Bible.
(119) The Bible tells us that the soul dies and will return to life from Sheol (Greek, Hades) in the last day. "The soul that sins, it shall die!" (Ezekiel 18:4, King James II Version) "Death and Hades were emptied of the dead that were in them; and every one was judged as his deeds deserved." (Revelation 21:14, New Jerusalem Bible) Regarding the soul of Jesus, we read: "For you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you give Your Holy One to see corruption." (Acts 2:27; quoted from Psalm 16:10, New Jerusalem Bible) Nowhere does the Bible ever state that the human soul never dies or that it is immortal.
(120) But doesn't the transfiguration of Moses and Elijah prove that they were not really dead? (Matthew 17:2,3) And what about the statement of Jesus regarding Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that God is not a God of the dead but of the living?" (Matthew 22:32) These texts have often been used to support both the immortal soul theory and the eternal torment theory. But let us examine these scriptures closely.
Moses and Elijah on the Mount
(121) It is thought by many that Moses and Elijah appeared in person to the disciples and Jesus. (Matthew 17:1-8) However, Jesus told his disciples expressly that what they had seen was a VISION Matthew 17:9. Peter in his second letter explains that the vision foreshadowed the glorious kingdom of the Messiah, therefore fulfilling Jesus' words in Matthew 16:28. -- 2 Peter 1:16-18.
(122) The word rendered "vision" in the Greek is horama. This word occurs twelve times in the New Testament, and in each instance it is properly rendered "vision." To take two examples: in Acts 9:11,12, we read: "The Lord said unto him [Ananias], Arise and go into the street that is called Straight and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold he prayeth and hath seen in a vision [horama] a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight." The man seen by the blind Saul of Tarsus was evidently not a reality, but a vision. In Acts 12:7,9, we read: "Behold an angel of [Jehovah] came upon him and a light shined in the prison, and he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly...And he went out and followed him and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision" -- horama. Peter thought that what he had seen was a vision, and did not say that it was reality. These examples make it evident that the word horama used by the Messiah indicated that Moses and Elijah were not really present on the Mount, but only appeared to be there. The whole scene was a vision.
(123) To say that Moses and Elijah actually stood with the Messiah on the Mount would be to contradict the teaching of the Scriptures that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead. -- Acts 26:23; I Corinthians 15:20.
God Is Not the God of the Dead But the Living
Matthew 22:32
(124) This text is frequently quoted as a proof that the dead are not really dead. A study of the context will show that the Messiah was speaking here of the resurrection, and that the passage teaches exactly the opposite of the commonly received meaning. His words in the preceding verse are: "As touching the resurrection of the dead." He did not say: "the resurrection of the living," for that would have been nonsense. It was in view of the resurrection that Jesus could say that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not the God of the dead but of the living. This agrees with what the apostle says in Romans 4:17: "God quickeneth [makes alive] the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were."
(125) Two other texts frequently brought forward to support the theory that believers at death "do immediately pass into glory," are 2 Corinthians 5:8, where the apostle Paul says he is "willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord," and Philippians 1:23, where he expresses a "desire to depart and to be with the Messiah." It is evident, however, from other scriptures (see 2 Timothy 4:8), that the apostle did not expect to be immediately ushered into the presence of the Lord the moment he laid aside his "earthly tabernacle." He knew he must remain asleep in death until the return of the Messiah at the last trump, when he would be awakened in the first resurrection, and so be ever with the Lord.
(126) The word "depart" in the latter text is (Philippians 1:23) not a correct translation of the Greek word analusai. (Strong's Number 360) In Luke 12:36, the same Greek word is rendered "return" in the King James Version. But neither does "return" accurately express the meaning of analusai; the literal translation is "to be loosed again." Paul was in a "strait betwixt two" things -- whether to live or to die. Both had advantages, and he did not know which he would rather choose; but "to be loosed again" from the prison-house of death by the Lord at His second coming, was indeed far better than either of these other two things, and this is what the apostle earnestly desired above all else.
2 Corinthians 5:8
(127) Regarding the other scripture (2 Corinthians 5:8), we find that if we think a little about what the apostle actually wrote it becomes clearer. 2 Corinthians 5:8 reads: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (King James Version) Does this scripture say anything about what becomes of a believer at death? Absolutely not! What does it mean? The apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, is writing concerning the pilgrimage of the believer, especially the joint-heirs with the Messiah, during the present evil system. In verses 6 and 7 we read: "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home [Strong's Greek No. 1736, to be in one's own country] in the body, we are absent [Strong's 1553, to emigrate, i.e., (fig.) vacate or quit] from Jehovah, for we walk by faith, not by sight." This is very similar to Asaph's psalm. (Psalm 73:24,25) As long as we are feel "at home" in our present surroundings, we are not walking with Jehovah, therefore we are absent from him. "But we are confident, and well-pleased rather to be absent [Strong's Greek 1553, to emigrate] from the body, and to be present [Strong's Greek No. 1736, to be in one's own country] with Jehovah." (verse 8) It is our desire, not to be at home in the body so as to make our present surroundings our country, but to mortify the deeds of the body, so as to walk with Jehovah in the spirit. (Romans 8:1-13) "Because of this, too, whether [Strong's 1535, if too] being at home [Strong's Greek No. 1736, to be in one's own country] or [Strong's 1535, if too] absent [from our body, Strong's 1553, to emigrate, i.e., (fig.) vacate or quit], we are striving to be well-pleasing to him." (verse 9) If we are finding our home or dwelling with God, or if we not making our home in our present body, we are also striving to make ourselves acceptable to Jehovah. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, that every one of us may receive the things done in the body, according to the things he has done, whether good or bad." (verse 10) It is the things that the disciple of Jesus does now, in his present conditions, that determine how he is judged before the judgment seat of the Messiah. This is the reason we are to keeping striving to be well-pleasing to Jehovah while serving him. (verse 9) Thus we see that 2 Corinthians 5:8 says nothing about what happens to the believer at death.
(128) Some claim that such passages as Ecclesiastes 3:19,20;9:2,3,5,10 cannot be used to refer to the state of the dead. Now according to these passages, the same thing happens to both men and beasts, in that they all die, and the dead know nothing. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event for all.'" How do the traditionalists explain away these scriptures? One writer refers to Ecclesiastes 12:11: "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd." According to the writer the goads mean problems and the nails mean solutions. How the author arrives at this conclusion is not explained, but, using this interpretation, he explains:
"The goad, according to that interpretation, would be that which perplexes the man who looks at things from the standpoint of the earth (under the sun'). Well as it looks from here, is it not true that men and beasts all die, and that when they die the lose all direct contact with this world? Are not all the same in that respect? But there is a nail, a solution. Viewed from the region of the sun, the author of Ecclesiastes knows that the lot of the righteous is not the same as that of the wicked (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Also he knows that there is, indeed, a life after death. Man's spirit does not go out of existence. On the contrary, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.'" -- The Bible on the Life Hereafter, by William Hendricksen
.
(129) There is no reason whatsoever for the above explanation except that one wants to hold onto the traditions of man. The Bible itself never gives us the interpretation that the quoted writer gives, nor do the statements in Ecclesiastes conflict with the rest of the Bible. It may conflict with traditionalists' ideas of "going to heaven" at death, but nowhere does the Bible hold out the hope of "going to heaven" when one dies. With these thoughts in mind let us look further at the claims made in BLH book.
(130) First of all, Ecclesiastes 2:26 presents a riddle. In effect Solomon asks: "Is God giving to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy, while to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he might give to him that is good before God? This also is vanity and vexation of spirit." That this verse must be looked upon as riddle can be seen from what is said directly after: "This too is vanity and chasing after the wind." It is true that after the day of judgment God will set all matters right, but in this present world, it is not so. Not all good people experience wisdom, knowledge, and joy in this present life; likewise not all who are wicked receive travail, to gather and to heap up, that he might give to him that is good before God. Indeed, we find that generally the reverse is true. As Solomon later states: "There is a vanity that is done upon the earth: that there are just men, to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity." -- Ecclesiastes 8:14.
(131) With this Job agrees: "Why do the wicked still live on, their power increasing with age? They see their posterity assured, and their offspring secure in their eyes. The peace of their houses has nothing to fear, the rod that God wields is not for them. No mishap with their bull at breeding-time, nor miscarriage with their cow at calving. They let their infants frisk like lambs, their children dance like deer. They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They end their lives in happiness and go down in peace in Sheol." Job 19:21:7-13, New Jerusalem Bible.
(132) Likewise Jeremiah says; "Your uprightness is too great, Jehovah, for me to dispute with you. But I should like to discuss some points of justice with you: Why is it that the way of the wicked prospers? Why do all treacherous people thrive?" -- Jeremiah 12:1, New Jerusalem Bible.
(133) Further Malachi states: "Now we call the proud happy. Yes, those who work wickedness are set on high. Yes, those who tempt God are even saved." -- Malachi 3:15.
(134) Additionally, the rest of the Bible agrees with the Solomon's observations regarding man's subjection to vanity. "Surely every man standing is all vanity." (Psalm 39:5) "For the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but through him subjecting it." -- Romans 8:20.
(135) In the same manner, the rest of the Bible agrees with Solomon's description of death. "His breath (Hebrew, rûwach, Strong's No. 7307, wind, breath, power) goes forth, he returns to the earth. In that very day his thoughts perish." (Psalm 145:4) Now if man should continue to think, even if he no longer had his human form, this scripture simply could not be true. "The dead do not praise Jehovah, nor do any who go down into silence." (115:17) Again, this scripture could not be true if the righteous were still alive and praising God even though dead. Job agrees that all go to the same place: "They shall die alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them." (Job 21:26) And with this the apostle Paul agrees: "Therefore, by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, because all have sinned." (Romans 5:12) Thus there is no reason for rejecting the statements in Ecclesiastes concerning the condition of the dead.
(136) But some say that Ecclesiastes 9:10 does not mean to exclude all activity from the "life after this life" Not any more than the saying of our savior recorded in John 9:4 (Night is approaching when no man can work'). According to this argument such expressions refer only to the cessation of all toil under the sun,' that is, of all human activity here on earth. -- Commentaar op het Oude Testament, p. 205.
(137) In actuality John 9:4 has nothing to do with Ecclesiastes 9:10, nor with life after death. John 9:4 is referring to the falling away "when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own unrighteous desires they will collect for themselves teachers, having itching ears." (2 Timothy 4:3,4) This happened with the development of the Roman Catholic Church and its subsequent suppression of truth. Greek philosophy and religious practices were embraced as supplementing, even explaining scripture. Nor does Ecclesiastes 9:10 purport to say anything about the life after this life,' that is, the resurrection. In the life after this life during the resurrection one will certainly be able to work, devise, think, and perform. -- Isaiah 26:8.
John 11:25,26
"Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die he will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never ever die.'"
(138) The above scripture is often quoted in trying to prove that the dead are not really dead. Do we find anything in John 11:17-26 about the soul surviving the body at death? Not one word. We do find that both Martha and Jesus spoke of the resurrection as occurring in the "last day". It is in the resurrection "at the last day" that he who lives and believes in Jesus will never die. In the resurrection will be, not only those who believe in the present age, but also those who do not believe at present. "As in Adam all are dying, so in the Messiah all will be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22) "There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just [justified] and the unjust [those not justified]." (Acts 24:15) And 2 Thessalonians 1:10 speaks of some who now oppose the truth believing in that day.' Thus John 11:17-26 produces no evidence whatsoever of the soul surviving death.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
(139) What about Ecclesiastes 12:7? Doesn't this prove that the righteous go to live with God after they die? No, not at all. In fact, this scripture further supports Ecclesiastes 9:2: "All things come alike to all -- there is one eventuality to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrifices, and to him that does not sacrifice; as is the good, so is the sinner; and he who swears, as he who fears an oath." And in chapter 2:14 Solomon states: "One eventuality awaits them both", that is, to both the good and the bad. What is this eventuality? "The dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit (Hebrew, rûwach, Strong's No. 7307, wind, breath, power) will return to God who gave it." (Ecclesiastes 12:7) This is the reversal of Genesis 2:7: "And Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew, neshâmâh, Strong's No. 5397, wind, vital breath) of life, and man became a living soul."
(140) There are several things to note about Ecclesiastes 12:7:
1) It is spoken of all men -- not just the righteous. If we should accept the traditional idea concerning this scripture we would also have to believe that the evil doers also go to live with God when they die.
2) It speaks of the spirit returning' to God. This is complete agreement with the rest of Bible, which tells us that God has given man the spirit of life, so that he could live. If we should accept the traditional view we would also have to be believe that we lived with God before we became living souls. Such is nonsense, however. Adam was not a living soul [being, or person] until God blew into his nostrils the breath of life. (Genesis 2:7) He was not a person before coming to the earth so that he would "return" to God as a person after death. Nowhere is such even hinted in the scriptures.
3) The structure of the sentence indicates that the word "spirit" does not represent life in any form. The spirit (Hebrew, rûwach, Strong's No. 7307, wind, breath, power) God "gave" to keep us alive is taken away when we die. With this Psalm 146:4 agrees: "His breath (Hebrew, rûwach, Strong's No. 7307, spirit, wind, breath, power) goes forth, he returns to his earth. In that very day his thoughts perish."
4) The verse following (Ecclesiastes 12:8) indicates that Solomon is further reiterating the vanity of our present life, which ceases at death. This verse says: "Vanity of vanities,' says the preacher, all is vanity.'
Ecclesiastes 3:11
"He has set eternity in their heart."
(141) Another scripture used to try to prove that the soul survives the death of the body is Ecclesiastes 3:11. Again, no mention is made of the soul in this scripture, but only a reference to man's longing to live forever. The statement that man has eternity in his heart in no wise even implies that the soul is inherently immortal. Most people continue each day, making plans for tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. He has a sense of perpetual life. God made man to live forever, as he was in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26-31) Had Adam not disobeyed he would have continued to enjoy everlasting life. -- Genesis 3:22.
(142) "But," someone might say, "even if the passage would mean that God has placed in man's soul the urge to reflect or meditate on whatever happens during the course of time, the main conclusion would be the same, namely, that according to the solution arrived at even by the author of Ecclesiastes, man is not in every respect like the beast." This, of course, is simply a diversion. It is not out thought, nor do we claim that man is in every respect like the beast. We know of no religious group whatsoever that teaches that Solomon was trying to say that man is "in every respect like the beast." Thus the very premise of the above argument is meaningless. Nor does the fact that man is not in every respect like the beast prove that man's soul never dies, or that any part of him continues to live after death.
"Spirits of Just Men Made Perfect"
(143) Many believe Hebrews 11:13-16; 12:23 proves that the dead are not dead. Despite the fact that nowhere in the references is the soul or a continued existence while dead even mentioned, and despite the fact that Hebrews 11:13 says that the faithful ones of old all "died in faith, not having received the promises," we often find some arguing that they actually reached the heavenly country that God prepared for them. This, however, is not so. Hebrews 11:16 tells us that "now they are stretching themselves for something better, that is, that which is from heaven. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Nor are they now living there as "spirits of just men made perfect." This is a twisting of scripture to suit the traditions of men.
(144) The context of Hebrews 12:23 throws some light on the meaning of this passage. "But you [not the faithful of old] are approaching [Strong's 4334, to approach, come near] Mt. Zion, and to the city of the living God, Jerusalem from Heaven, and to an unnumbered assembly of angels, to the general assembly and congregation of the first-born, who are written in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." The ones spoken of in this scripture are especially disciples of Jesus. The context indicates that at the end of the age everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. (vs. 27) The unshakable thing will be God's kingdom, represented by the Mt. Zion from heaven. (vs. 22) The apostle Paul likens the time of its inauguration to the inauguration of the Law Covenant at Mt. Sinai, when all the people heard the thunderings, and the noise of the trumpets, and saw the lightnings and the mountain smoking; and when Moses "drew near to the thick darkness where God was;" and Moses went up into the mountain. All of this was typical -- the sealing of the Law Covenant at the hands of the typical mediator - Moses. -- Exodus 20:18-22.
(145) The antitype is what we are approaching -- what will be reached by all the justified at the end of the age. When the Law Covenant was given, Paul says that God's "voice then shook the earth." (vs. 26) Likewise here at the end of the age it will be as he promised: "Yet once more I will shake not only earth but also the heaven." (vs. 26) When all that can be shaken is removed, then the New Covenant will be become operative towards bringing the world back to the paradise condition. The Mediator will be Jesus the Messiah, as the glorified Head, and the church his body.
(146) All who truly belong to Jesus have been and are approaching to the heavenly Mt. Zion, not necessarily that they would go to heaven, but it is from the heavenly Mt. Zion that the kingdom blessing will flow. This is the same that Peter spoke of: "For according to his promise we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell." At that time the New Jerusalem descends to the earth, and its kingdom fills the whole earth. (Revelation 21:1-3; Daniel 2:35,44,45) Thus we read: "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken." Eventually all nations will flow to this mountain and war itself will cease. -- Isaiah 2:2-4.
(147) The apostle says we are approaching the time when "the spirits of just ones" will be made perfect. It would not be reasonable to suppose that he would first mention the church of the first-borns, including them all and then mention a part of them. Hence we conclude that this phrase refers to another class. The word "spirit" has several meanings, both in Hebrew, Greek and English. One of the meanings is "disposition" or manner of using our energy. Thus we read of the spirit of fear, of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) As a result of the fall of our race into sin and its condemnation, death, the whole world is unsound, imperfect in spirit. "There is none righteous [perfect, sound], no not one." (Romans 3:10) Under the coming kingdom arrangements the world will be gradually brought out of its condition of unrighteousness and unsound mind. Eventually, those who come to develop the spirit of love perfectly will be fully justified to live forever. The word "spirits" in Hebrews 12:23 we understand to mean the dispositions of those who receive justification after being resurrected and after they have been made perfect. At that time they will no longer be disposed to fight or make war. "They will learn war no more." (Isaiah 2:4) These must learn of Jehovah's ways that their spirits might be changed to the perfect will of God. (Isaiah 2:3) For when Jehovah's judgments are in the earth, the people will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9) "And those who err in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction." (Isaiah 29:24) It is to these "spirits of the just ones made perfect" that we are now approaching and will eventually reach under the New Covenant to come.
2 Corinthians 12:2,4
(148) Many tell us that heaven and paradise mean the same thing because in 2 Corinthians 12:2,4, because verse 2 says that a certain person was caught up to the "third heaven" and verse 4 says he was caught up to "paradise," that the heaven and paradise mean the same thing. Not so! Peter outlines the three heavens in 2 Peter 3:5-13. The first heavens and the first earth existed before the flood of Noah's day. That heavens and earth passed away in the flood of Noah's day. The present heavens and earth will also pass away, but will be followed by the new heavens and new earth. The "new heavens" of 2 Peter 3:13 corresponds to the "third heaven" of 2 Corinthians 12:2. Likewise, the "paradise" of 2 Corinthians 12:4 corresponds to the "new earth" of 2 Peter 3:13. The paradise (Greek, Strong's #3857, paradisos, park) spoken of here corresponds to the paradise, park, or garden (Hebrew, Strong's #1588, gan, garden) of God spoken of at Ezekiel 28:13, where Jehovah speaks to Satan under the symbol of the King of Tyre: "You have been in Eden the paradise of God." The Edenic paradise of God will be restored as shown in Revelation 2:7. This paradise will on earth -- the new earth -- when all things are made new. -- Revelation 21:1-5.
Psalm 16:11
(149) To support their claim that the dead are awake and alive, some refer to Psalm 16:11, stating that the redeemed are in heaven experiencing fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore, while they sleep. Psalm 16:11 says no such thing! How well the blind like to be led into blindness! This scripture refers to the resurrection, not immortal soul, of Jesus. (Acts 2:25-33) Since it does not refer to what happens to a believer at the instant of death, it has no bearing on their argument.
Ezekiel 32:11
(150) Another scripture presented to prove that the righteous go to heaven at death and will recognize each other there is Ezekiel 32:11. The strong (el - the mighty) among the mighty [Strong's 1368 -the powerful nations that previously existed] shall speak [by the voice of history - compare Genesis 4:10] to him [Egypt - vs. 18] out of the midst of hell [sheol - the realm of death]. Again no reference whatsoever about any going to heaven and recognizing each immediately after death
Luke 16:9
(151) Luke 16:9 refers to the time when Jesus returns and receives his saints unto himself, thus it refers to the resurrection. (John 14:3) It does not refer to any going to heaven at death.
Revelation 21:27
(152) Some believe that this scripture refers to heaven. But in looking at Revelation 21:27, we do not find any reference to heaven, or those who go to heaven at all. Rather we find that the reference is to the New Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven. (Revelation 21:2) The reference is to the establishment of Jehovah's Kingdom over all the earth, when all nations will learn of Jehovah's ways and walk in Jerusalem's light for their own healing. (Revelation 21:24; 22:2; Isaiah 2:1-4) Of course, there will be progress during that thousand-year reign of Jesus, when the nations are judged. But it has nothing to do with being in heaven. It is true that none will be permitted into the holy city condition until he has cleaned himself up, both in mind and actions, to conform to the Kingdom. But the people of the nations who receive the healing will be making progress then, else how could there be any healing of the nations?
God's Wrath
(153) But some might say: "Love does not exclude wrath for those who stubbornly reject his love." With this we agree. In fact, we say that God's wrath remains upon those who have not even had a chance to hear about his love, for all mankind was sentenced under God's wrath, not to eternal torture, but to death. (John 3:36; Romans 5:18; 6:23; Colossians 3:6; Ephesians 5:3-6) God's wrath is and has been expressed upon all the world of mankind. At the end of this age, his wrath will be expressed upon all not under the blood of Jesus. (Revelation 15:1) But this wrath is expressed upon the earth, not while a person is dead. (Revelation 16:1) And in the final judgment, his wrath will be expressed upon those who willfully disobey by again returning them to death -- the second death from which there is no return. -- Revelation 20:15.
Temporal Sin and Everlasting Punishment
(154) Some have supposed that we teach that God would not punish temporal sin with everlasting punishment. There may be some who make this argument. Our understanding is that all sin is punishable by everlasting punishment. The condemnation of Adam was everlasting. He had no way to get out of it. The punishment, death, would have continued forever. But God made a provision for his ransom. It took someone equal to him to undergo his everlasting punishment for him in order to buy back what he lost. (Jesus gave up his humanity forever -- thus his flesh is under the eternal punishment that was placed upon Adam.) Likewise, those who are returned to death in the second death will suffer everlasting punishment. For the second death, however, there will be no ransom. They will remain there in death forever, thus undergoing everlasting punishment.
God's Justice
(155) Some have tried to maintain the idea that the wicked are suffering somewhere for all eternity by arguing: "What matters is that God remain God! Else all is lost for everybody. God cannot remain God unless his attributes -- including his justice -- be maintained." By some unknown reasoning, this argument assumes that God's justice demands eternal torture for all who die in a lost condition. The scriptures show that death is what God's justice demands. (Romans 6:23) God's justice does not demand the eternal suffering of the wicked! God's justice demanded that God condemn Adam to death, since that is what he told him would be his punishment. (Genesis 2:17) God did not change his mind and then sentence Adam to an eternity of torture. Nor did he require an eternity of torture for his ransom. Adam died, as provided by God's justice. (Genesis 5:5) All of Adam's children inherited this death sentence. -- Romans 5:12,19.
Are All Those Who Die in Infancy Saved?
(156) The answer to this question depends on what one means by "saved." The Bible tells us that God wills "all to be saved and to come to accurate knowledge of the truth." To this end Jesus gave himself "a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." "As in Adam all are dying, so in Christ all will be made alive." Thus all, including the little children are saved from the condemnation that we have inherited from Adam and will be made alive in the resurrection. (1 Timothy 2:3-6; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:18) However, this does not mean that they go to heaven. They come back to life right here on earth for judgment the same as all the rest of the world.
2 Peter 2:4,9; Jude 13
(157) Doesn't 2 Peter 2:4,9 tell us that the eternal destiny of the wicked is determined at death? 2 Peter 2:4 does not refer to the wicked humans at all, but rather to the angels who sinned, that they have been imprisoned and in chains of darkness, reserved to judgment. 2 Peter 2:9 simply says exactly we have been saying, that the unjust will be punished in the day of judgment. This does not say that the unjust's eternal destiny is determined at death. Jude 13 refers to those who had been disciples of Jesus but have known the way of truth and, having turned aside therefrom, have proved themselves incorrigible. In Adam God regarded them as dead (Romans 5:15), which is their first death. By Christ they have been justified out of that death into life (John 5:24,25; 3:36). The ones spoken of in Jude 13, however, willfully sin away the grace of God and exhaust their share in the merit of Christ. Jesus does not die again for them. (Romans 6:9) Therefore, there is no more sacrifice for sins left for them. (Hebrews 10:26) As a result, they come under a second death sentence and become "twice dead." (Jude 12) Jude 13 does not refer to the general population of wicked ones at all.
Matthew 25:1-13,46
(158) What about Matthew 25:1-13,46? Do these scriptures show that our eternal destiny is fixed at death? Some argue: "When once the bridegroom arrives, those who are ready' enter (Matthew 25:10-13). This exclusion lasts forever (Matthew 25:46)." The parable of the ten virgins has nothing to do with the world in general but only to the Lord's disciples at the end of the age when Jesus returns. Nor does it have anything to do with what happens to a person when he dies. Additionally, please note that Matthew 25:46 has nothing to do with the parable of the ten virgins. This is a gross misuse of scripture. Matthew 25:46 refers to those who at the end of the thousand years prove themselves incorrigible sinners, worthy of eternal destruction. It has nothing to do with the death of the wicked in the world at this time.
Matthew 7:22,23
(159) In Matthew 7:22,23 we read: "Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And did we not cast out demons in your name? And did we not do many wonderful works in your name?'And then I will declare to them: Depart from me, you that have worked illegally.'" Does this teach that one's eternal destiny is fixed at death? Some have so argued. It is true that when God's kingdom is ruling and those who become part of the seed of Abraham will be given various positions in the Kingdom. But many at that time, (during the thousand years of Christ's reign after having been restored to life) will wonder why they were left out of positions in the kingdom, when they had labored in religious works in the name of Jesus their past life. But Jesus said nothing about what the final eventually becomes of these. No doubt many of them will "believe in that day" and attain to life everlasting. (2 Thessalonians 1:10) We find nothing in Matthew 7:22,23 that shows that they were judged for eternity during the present life.
Matthew 10:32,33
(160) The words spoken in Matthew 10:32,33 do not say that one who denies Jesus before men will be eternally damned, as some have assumed. If so, Peter would have been eternally damned, for he denied Jesus three times. Likewise Saul could not have been converted to become the apostle Paul, for he denied Jesus many times before his conversion. Likewise, the opportunity to be converted continues, indeed, is increased greatly after the resurrection of the unjust.
Galatians 6:7,8
(161) Galatians 6:7,8 states: "Do not be deceived! God is not be mocked. For whatever a man sows, that is what he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap continuing life." Yes, this is true. Had Adam continued to sow to the spirit, he would not have sinned. But he began to look at the flesh, wanting to please his wife more than Jehovah. Thus he reaped corruption. The scripture in Galatians 6:7,8 is directed toward those who have received the holy spirit to a new birth. Those of the world are already walking according to the flesh and reaping corruption therefrom. If the spirit-begotten disciple of Jesus should likewise fail to walk according to the spirit, he likewise will reap corruption from the flesh. If at any point, however, he should change so as to walk after the spirit, he will reap continuing life in the resurrection. But the apostle Paul does not say that the opportunity to walk after the spirit ends at death.
Hebrews 9:27
(162) In Hebrews 9:27, Paul uses the same Greek word for judgment that John used in recording Jesus' words at John 5:28,29. Many insist that the resurrection is unto life or unto damnation, not probation. They prefer to translate the Greek word krisis as "damnation" in John 5:28,29. If we use this same reasoning with Hebrews 9:27, we would have all men suffering death, followed by damnation. Of course, such is absurd. Actually Hebrews 9:27 must be taken with the context. By reading the 27th verse in connection with vss. 26 and 28, it will be seen that the "men" referred to were the various high priests of Israel. Paul is trying to show us that these "men" in sacrifices which they offered "offered year by year continually," were but types of Jesus. Though they offered and went into the holy place every year, Jesus as the antitype needed only to go in once. Jesus' sacrifice was that of his own life, while that these typical men was the blood of others. The priests in the type did not lay down their own lives and take on a new life in the spirit as Jesus did. They were told to kill "a bullock" which was for, or instead of their own, natural lives. Thus in the figure the priest died, every time he slew the bullock. After killing the bullock it remained for the high priest to take the blood into the holy place and see whether it would be accepted. This was the judgment -- trial. If the work had been all properly done, it was accepted by God and was the basis of atonement for the people and the after blessing. Now notice that, "As it was appointed for [those] men once to die [as represented by the bullock], and after that the judgment [to see if their sacrifice was acceptable], so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many."
(163) Jesus, after presenting himself for the Church, presented the evidences of his death and merit of his blood, typified by the bullock and its blood. (Hebrews 9:12,24) Then the trial took place: Was it a perfect sacrifice? If so it would be accepted. It was perfect and was accepted by God. (Hebrews 9:14) The outpouring of the holy spirit at Pentecost was an evidence that the blood of the new covenant had been accepted. (Acts 2:32,33,36) By looking at the context we see that this Hebrews 9:27 is not referring to life after death at all. But even if were, the judgment spoken of here would be first, the judgment upon the church after being reckoned dead in Jesus. (Romans 6:11) Having been reckoned dead to sin but alive toward God, they now enter their judgment period. (1 Corinthians 11:31,32; Hebrews 12:4-15; 1 Peter 1:17; 4:16,17) Likewise, those of the world must die and enter their judgment period during the 1,000 years of Jesus' rule. -- Revelation 20:4,6; 1 Corinthians 6:2.
Undying Worms and Quenchless Fires (Edited this section)
"And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." -- Isaiah 66:24, King James Version.
"It is good for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell [Gehenna]; where their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched." -- Mark 9:48, King James Version.
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| Gehenna - Valley of Hinnom |
(164) Jesus did not use the word often transliterated as "hades" in Mark 9:48. He used the word often transliterated as "Gehenna." While many either ignorantly or willfully confuse the Bible hell (sheol/hades) with Gehenna (rendered as "hell" or "hell-fire" in the King James Version), we need to note that Jesus is not speaking of hades, and that he is speaking figuratively of Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom. There have been several different ideas presented related to Jesus' statements regarding "their worm". One popular assertion among many who believe that Jesus was speaking of eternal torture is that the "undying worm" is speaking of a person's alleged "immortal soul." They often claim that the soul does not die, although the Bible never presents such an idea, and actually states the very opposite, that is, that the soul does die, as we have seen in an earlier study. Nevertheless, they would have it that Jesus is speaking of the "immortal worm" of a person whose body has died. The figure here used by the prophet and by our Master, represents the utter destruction of one condemned to the second death. We use the word "figure" because as we examine what Jesus was saying, it becomes evident that Jesus was speaking figurative of one who comes under the second death condemnation.
(165) As explained earlier, Gehenna is the Greek name for a valley outside Jerusalem called in Hebrew, "The valley of Hinnom." In Jesus' day it was the place of depositing the offal, garbage, carcasses and filth in general. In it fires of sulphur were kept burning to destroy the carcasses and thus prevent infection and pestilence. Sometimes a carcass would lodge upon a ledge of rock and not fall into the fires and then the maggots or worms would surely consume it. None were permitted to quench or extinguish those fires and hence they burned until the substance was annihilated. While the Valley of Hinnom still exists to this day, there are no longer any fires kept burning in that valley.
(166) It became customary to cast the "carcasses" [dead bodies] of criminals of certain classes into that Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna, instead of giving them a decent burial. We have no record that anyone cast alive into Gehenna. Nevertheless, it appears that Gehenna, its fires and the worms in the valley were used by Jesus to refer to an extreme of punishment. To be "cast into Gehenna" was evidently a synonym for utter and hopeless destruction. This idea may have come from the thought that those decently buried would be resurrected, but those destroyed in Gehenna would not be raised.
(167) Jesus certainly spoke as though his hearers already had some though in mind concerning Gehenna, and we believe the conclusion we have presented is in hamony with the rest of the scriptures. Thus, how appropriate that our Lord should use Gehenna as a symbol or figure for the second death, the utter and final destruction of all the incorrigible; a destruction sure and detestable among the filth and offscourings of the new order of things. Jerusalem itself was a figure or symbol of the kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem. Gehenna or the valley of destruction was an appropriate figure of the second death, the utter extermination of all things abominable and filthy in the close of the Millennial Age. -- Revelation 22:14,15.
(168) Isaiah’s remarks point us down into the future to a time when the new heavens and the new earth are fully established (verse 22) under the Prince of Glory, when full knowledge and ability having come, all transgressors will be consigned to the second death, the anti-type of Gehenna, and when only the righteous will live to serve and obey and enjoy God’s blessings. The all such will see the justice as well as the wisdom of the utter destruction of the incorrigible, willful enemies of righteousness. As it is written: “They will be an abhorrence to all flesh.” — Isaiah 66:24.
Question Regarding Spirits in Prison
(169) Some might ask: If, as you say, Jesus was not in a place of fiery torture while he was dead, why do the scriptures say that he preached to the spirits in prison while he was dead? The scripture being inquired about is in 1 Peter 3:19, which reads in the King James Version: "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." If we read the context we will note several things.
(170) First, Peter is not talking about spirits of dead people supposedly being tortured in flaming fires. Verse 20 continues: "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." According to this next verse, we could assume two things: 1- That the spirits in prison that Jesus preached to were the humans that died in the flood of Noah's day; or 2- That these spirits were the spirit creatures (angels) that disobeyed God before the flood in Noah's day.
(171) The latter, however, is the only explanation that would fit with the entire testimony of the scriptures. In Jude 1:6 we read that these angels did not keep their first estate. In 2 Peter 2:4, Peter says that these angels were "cast into hell" and restrained in chains of darkness until the day of judgment. The expression, "cast into hell," is translated from one Greek word, tartaroo. This expression has nothing whatsoever to do with the Jesus' soul in sheol. These angels who disobeyed are spoken of in Genesis 6:2: "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." At that time God permitted these angels to take on the form of men and marry and have children.
(172) Since the flood of Noah's day only the obedient angels have been permitted at times to take on the form of men, as in Judges 13:3-20, where an angel of Jehovah appeared to the mother and father of Samson. They thought they were talking to a man, but it was an angel, because he ascended in the flame of the altar and disappeared. Likewise, we read in Genesis 18:2-19;25, when Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw three men coming to him, and he greeted them, he made them welcome, and prepared a meal, and they ate and talked with Abraham. Paul, mentioning them, said that we should not forget to entertain strangers, because some had entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2) He is referring to exactly what Abraham did when he entertained those angels without knowing they were angels. They appeared as men, and they were men to all intents and purposes until they had performed their work, and then they left the form of man and returned to the spirit realm. So just as the angels of Jehovah appeared to Abraham, ate with him, and talked with him, and had all the functions of men, just so with the angels prior to the flood. All the angels had this power, and not merely the good angels, for they were all originally good. But some of God's angels disobeyed God, left their original estate as angels, and took on the form of men. They preferred not only to take the human form to appear to man, but preferred to live as human beings. They left their habitation, the spirit realm, and lived as men in the world, and they had wives. They raised families. Their children were spoken of as "men of renown." They were gigantic in size. God saw that the whole earth was being corrupted by the influence of these disobedient angels. The imagination of the human mind was evil, and only evil, and that continually. Therefore God said: "I will destroy man from the face of the earth." "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." (Genesis 6:7,13) So Jehovah destroyed those giants as well as all mankind, save Noah and his wife, his two sons and their wives.
(173) So Peter and Jude tell us that those angels who sinned at that time were sentenced by God. They were restrained in chains -- not literal chains, but chains of darkness, so that they could not take the form of man, so that they could not come out during the day. These demons, or disobedient angels, had been cast out by Jehovah from his realm of light into a realm of spiritual darkness. Today, as in the days of Jesus, these demons are still not permitted to take on the form of man. So they do the next best thing: they take possession of human bodies. They get into a person's body in order to continue themselves in their desires to live as humans, and in so doing they continue themselves as servants of the original serpent, Satan the Devil. We read that on one a occasion, there was a legion of these demons in one man. They said: "My name is Legion, for we are many." God has given all of us will whereby we may resist these intrusions. These demons are working more actively today than ever before. They represent themselves as being "ghosts", "disembodied spirits", "aliens from other planets", and they even possess a person when he is a near-death condition, giving them "visions" of "heaven", "hell", "Paradise", "Jesus", "Mohammed", "Buddha", or whatever else a person might have a tendency to believe in. They know all about people who have died, so they can easily impersonate a dead person. Likewise, they can give persons all sorts of visions, or false "memories" about things that never really happened, or of another person's life hundreds or even thousands of years before you were born. All of this activity is happening in order to keep people from looking into the truth about the only way provided by Jehovah to come to him, that is, through his Son, Jesus.
(174) This brings us to the second thing to be noticed in Peter's words in 1 Peter 3:18-21. Peter does not say that Jesus preached to the spirits in Sheol or in Hades. Nor does he say that he preached to them while he was in Hades. Rather he says that this preaching to these spirits in prison occurred in this manner: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison." (verses 18,19, World English Bible translation) By this we can definitely say that while Jesus was a spirit being after his resurrection, he went and preached to the spirits in prison. However, it could also be that Peter is saying that by means of all these things that he had just spoken of, Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison. That is, while he was suffering in the form of a man, he went and preached to the spirits in prison, and after his resurrection as a spirit being, when he, as a spirit being, took the form of man, he preached to the spirits in prison. Viewed from this standpoint, everything Jesus did while he went upon the earth, even his death and resurrection, was a preaching to the demons. Not only this, he at times directly preached to demons when he expelled them from demon-possessed people. (Luke 4:33-36; 8:27-33; Matthew 4:24) These demons knew that Jesus had left the glory he had before and had humbled himself and become a man. They watched as he died and they saw that, unlike themselves, even until his death, he remained in obedience to his Father, Jehovah. Then they watched as Jesus' Father raised him from the dead. It spoke a great sermon to these fallen angels. It was a wonderful lesson he was preaching, not necessarily by words, but actions. He preached by his obedience to his Father's will. After his resurrection these fallen angels saw all power in heaven and earth given to Jesus. (Matthew 28:18) They saw that his Father again permitted him to take the form of man, that is to have a body of flesh and bones, as they, being "fallen" spirits could not do. (Luke 24:37-43) They saw that God had rewarded him for obedience, and they realized that God had punished them for their disobedience. Whether there was any additional personal preaching to the spirits in prison sometime after Jesus was raised from the dead, the Bible does not say.
(175) Why did Jesus preach to the spirits in prison? If God, in his mercy, did so much as to have his only-begotten Son to leave his estate and take on the form of man, not to take on the life of humans, but give up his human life for all the human race, could he not be making a similar provision for the deliverance of any fallen angels that would wish to return to him? That intimation is given by the apostle Paul when he says that not only will the church judge mankind, but also, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3) The saints will not judge the holy angels. They will not need judging. The angels that will need judging will be the fallen angels. Just how the saints will do this is not given in the scriptures, but the apostle Paul's words are there and must mean something. It is possible that some of the fallen angels would repent and return to God, if given the opportunity to do so. But we have no reason to think that many of them are in this condition of repentance. All through this present evil world these demons have been fighting hard, and the apostle tells us of doctrines of devils, doctrines of demons, that have troubled the whole world. You will find the demonic doctrines to all the popular religions of the world. If you go to any popular religious group whether claiming to be Christian or other you will find that all believe practically the same thing in at least one of the major lies by which Satan is deceiving the whole world. The major lie is that creature worship and disobedience do not result in death -- that when you die you are not really dead (as a result of disobedience and creature worship). (Genesis 3:4,5; Revelation 9:20; 12:9; 13:4,8,12; 14:9,11) However, even if the preaching done by Jesus only served as an announcement to these fallen angels that they could have been obedient, even as he was, with no offer of repentance, it would still be within the scope of the scripture cited. In any case, the scripture does not say that Jesus was alive and preaching to human souls eternally lost in Hades (Sheol). Such would be completely out of harmony with the rest of Bible which assures us that those in Sheol/Hades cannot reason, think, or plan, etc. -- Ecclesiastes 9:10.
(176) In conclusion, we hope that all our readers will realize the times in which we are living, that now we have opportunity to "wash our robes in the blood's lamb" that we may present ourselves "spotless" for service in God's temple before the throne. The culmination of the great tribulation is before us. The hope of being hidden during and coming out of the great tribulation to receive everlasting life in the glorious earthly realm of Jehovah's kingdom is a distinct possibility. (Revelation 7:9-17; Zephaniah 2:3) If you have not already done so, we urge all our readers to exercise faith in Christ for justification now (Romans 5:1), to let our minds be transformed by the holy spirit "that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). If we do this, carefully avoiding Satan's snares in this time of the end, you may live right into the time of the "new heavens and new earth" when the holy city will extend its rulership to the earth, permitting you to serve in the temple before the throne of God. Then "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4; 7:17) What a glorious prospect!
Addendum
The Lake of Fire
The "lake of fire" is several times mentioned in the book of Revelation, which all Christians admit to be a book of symbols. However, they generally think and speak of this particular symbol as a literal statement giving strong support to the eternal torment doctrine, notwithstanding the fact that the symbol is clearly defined as meaning the second death: "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death", etc. (Revelation 20:14) It is sometimes spoken of as "a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20), the element brimstone being mentioned to intensify the symbol of destruction, the second death. Burning brimstone is one of the most deadly elements known. It is destructive to all forms of life.
We are also told that hell (hades/sheol), as well as death (Adamic death -- 1 Corinthians 15:21,22), will be cast into the lake of fire. Does this mean that hell (hades/sheol) is to be tormented forever? No, but rather it means that "death will be no more." (Revelation 21:4) Hades and Adamic death will be destroyed by being cast into the lake of fire.
The symbolism of this lake of fire is further shown by the fact that the symbolic "beast" and the symbolic "false prophet," and death and hell [hades], as well as the devil and his followers, are destroyed in it. -- Revelation 19:20; 20:10,14,15; 21:8.
This destruction or death is called the "second death" in contradistinction to the first or Adamic death. It does not signify that everything that goes into it dies a second time. For instance, death (the first or Adamic death), and hades, the realm of death inherited from Adam, are to be cast into it. In no sense will they ever have been destroyed before. So also "the devil," "the beast," and "the false prophet," will never have been destroyed before.
From the first, or Adamic death, a resurrection has been provided. All that are in their graves will therefore come forth. The Revelator prophetically declares: "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hades gave up the dead that were in them. . . . And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened." (Revelation 20:13,12) It was in view of God's plan for redeeming the race from Adamic death that in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures it is called a "sleep." In Israel's history of the good and the wicked it is repeatedly stated that they "slept with their fathers." The apostles used the same symbol, and our Lord also. But no such symbol is used in reference to the second death. On the contrary, the strongest figures of total and utter destruction are used to symbolize it, that is, "fire and brimstone." That will be a destruction from which there will be no recovery.
Blessed thought! the Adamic death, which claimed the whole race for the sin of their progenitor, will be forever swallowed up, and will cease in this second death into which it is to be cast by the great Redeemer who bought the whole world with the sacrifice of himself. Thus God tells us through the prophet: "I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death. . . . O Sheol, I will be your destruction." (Hosea 13:14) The first or Adamic death will no longer have liberty or power over men, as it has had for the past six thousand years; no longer will any die for Adam's sin. (Romans 5:12; Jeremiah 31:29,30; Ezekiel 18:2) From that time onward the new covenant, sealed with the precious blood, will be in force, and only willful transgressions will be counted as sin and punished with the wages of sin -- death -- the second death. Thus will the Adamic death be cast into and swallowed up by the second death.
And hades and sheol -- the dark, secret realm of death, which in the present time speaks to us of a hope of future life by God's resurrection power in Christ -- will be no more. The second death will devour no being fit for life -- none for whom there remains a shadow of hope, but such only as, by the unerring Judge, have been fully, impartially and individually found worthy of destruction. And Satan, that lying tempter who deceived and ruined the race, and who with persistent energy and cunning has sought to continually thwart the purpose of Jehovah for our salvation through Christ, and with him all who are of his spirit, "his angels," will be destroyed, and will never awake from death to trouble the world again. Here he is said to be cast into the "lake of fire," the second death. The apostle Paul in Hebrews 2:14, referring to the same thing, calls it destruction: "that he might destroy death, and him that has the power of death, that is, the devil." And "the beast and the false prophet" the great false systems that have long oppressed and misled nominal Christendom and the world, will never escape from it. These systems are said to be cast "alive," that is, while they are still organized and operative, into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. -- Revelation 19:20.
The great tribulation will undoubtedly cause great social, financial and religious difficulty and pain to all those identified with these deceived and deceiving systems, before they are utterly destroyed. These systems will be cast in, destroyed, at the beginning of the Millennium, while Satan's destruction is reserved until its close, when all the "goats" will have been separated from the "sheep," and the "goats" will perish with Satan in the second death as "his angels," messengers or servants. None of those abominable individuals among men, who, knowing the truth, yet love unrighteousness -- none of the "the fearful and unbelieving" -- those who will trust Jehovah after all the manifestations of His grace afforded during the Millennial reign of Christ -- nor the abominable, who, at heart are fornicators, murderers, idolaters, sorcerers and liars; none of these will escape the second death, to defile the earth again. All such after a full and abundant opportunity for reformation will be judged unworthy of life, and will be forever cut off in the second death, symbolized by the lake of fire and brimstone.
Several prophetic pen pictures of the Millennial age and its work, in chapters 20 and 21 of Revelation, clearly show the object and result of the age of trial, in harmony with the remainder of the scriptures we have already noted.
Chapter 20, verses 2,4,11 with verses 1,2,10,11 of chapter 21, show the beginning of that age of judgment, and the restraining of blinding errors and misleading systems. The "beast" and the "false prophet" are the chief symbols, and represent the political elements of Satan's empire. This judgment against the "thrones" of the present time, and against "the beast and the false prophet" systems follows speedily upon the introduction of this Millennial judgment reign. The thrones of the present dominion of earth will be "cast down," and dominion transferred to the great prophet, priest, King and Judge, "whose right it is." (Compare Daniel 7:14,22; Ezekiel 21:27) Then the systems of error will be speedily judged worthy of destruction, "the lake of fire," "the second death." -- Revelation 19:20.
Thus the second destruction or death begins quite early in the new Judgment: it begins with the false systems symbolized by the Beast, False Prophet, etc., but will not reach the world of mankind, as individuals, until they have first had a full trial, with full opportunity to choose life and live forever. Chapters 20:12,13, and 21:3-7 indicate the blessed, favorable trial in which all, both dead and living (except Church, who, with Jesus Christ, are kings, priests, joint-heirs, princes and judges), will be brought to a full knowledge of the truth, relieved from sorrow and pain, and freed from every blinding error and prejudice, and tried "according to their works."
The grand outcome of that trial will be a clean universe. As the Revelator expresses it: "Every creature which is heaven and on earth . . . I heard saying: `Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever." (Revelation 5:13) But this result will be accomplished in harmony with all God's dealings past and present, which have always recognized man's freedom of will to choose good or evil, life or death.
We cannot doubt then that in the close of the Millennial age, God will again for a "little season" permit evil to triumph, in order to test his creatures (who will by that time have become thoroughly acquainted with both good and evil, and the consequence of each, and will have had Jehovah's justice and love fully demonstrated to them), that those who finally prefer and choose evil may be cut off -- destroyed. Thus God will for all eternity remove all who do not love righteousness and hate iniquity.
We read, regarding that testing, that Satan will endeavor to lead astray all mankind, whose numbers will then be as the sand of the sea for multitude; but that many of them will follow Satan's evil example and choose evil and disobedience, with past experience before them, and unhampered by present weaknesses and blinding influences, we need not suppose. However, when God does not tell us either the number or the proportion of those to be found worthy of life, and those to be judged worthy of death (the second death), we may not dogmatize. Of one thing we may be confident, God does not desire the death of the wicked, but would that all should turn to him and live; and no one will be destroyed in that "lake of fire and brimstone" (figurative of utter destruction -- Gehenna) who is worthy of life, whose living longer would be a blessing to himself or to others in harmony with righteousness.
Utter and hopeless destruction is intended only for willful evildoers, who, like Satan, in pride of heart and rebellion against God, will love and do evil notwithstanding the manifestations of God's disapproval, and notwithstanding their experience with its penalties. Seemingly the goodness and love of God in the provision of a ransom, a restoration, and an opportunity of life for those individuals who had none in this life instead of leading all to an abhorrence of sin, will lead some to suppose that they have a right to rule themselves aside from Jehovah. Thus they use the grace of Jehovah as a license for open and willful rebellion. But they will go no further, for their folly will be made manifest. Their utter destruction will prove to the righteous the harmony and perfect balance of Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power in the Divine Ruler.
Revelation 21:8
The true character of the goat class is portrayed. "The fearful and unbelieving [who will not trust God], the abominable, murderers [brother-haters], fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters [such as misappropriate and misuse divine favors, who give to self or any other creature or thing that service and honor which belongs exclusively to Jehovah], and all liars" -- "whosoever love and makes a lie" [in a word, all who do not love the truth and seek it, and at any cost defend and uphold it] "will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone [Gehenna, symbol of eternal destruction], which is the second death." Such company would be repulsive to any honest, upright being. It is hard to tolerate them now, when we can sympathize with them, knowing that such dispositions are now in great measure the result of inherited weakness of the flesh. We are moved to a measure of sympathy by the remembrance that in our own case, often, we would do good, evil is present with us. But in the case of the Millennial judgment, when the Master, the righteous Judge, will have every advantage and opportunity of knowledge and ability, this class will be an abhorrence and detestation to all who are in harmony with the King of Glory. And the righteous will be glad when, the trial being ended, the gift of life of which these will have proved themselves unworthy, will be taken from them, and when the corrupters of the earth, and all their work and influence will be destroyed.
The Devil, the Beast and
The False Prophet Tormented
Revelation 20:9 tells of the destruction of those individuals who join with Satan in the last rebellion; and verse 15 tells of that same destruction in other words, using the symbol "lake of fire." They are devoured or consumed in fire. This being the case, the torment of verse 10 cannot refer to these humans who are consumed, destroyed. Hence the question narrows down to this: "Will Satan and a false prophet and a beast be tortured forever? Does this verse teach this?"
We answer in God's own words: "All the wicked will he destroy." (Psalm 145:20) Concerning Satan, the arch enemy of God and man, God expressly tells us that he will be destroyed, and not preserved in any sense or condition. -- Hebrews 2:14.
The beast and false prophet systems, which during the Gospel Age have deceived and led astray, will be cast into a great consuming trouble in the close of this Gospel Age. The "torment" of these systems will be aionian, that is, lasting. The systems, as such, will be destroyed at the end of this age. The system of error that will suddenly manifest itself at the end of the Millennial Age and lead the "goats" to destruction, will also be consumed. (Revelation 20:7-10) Thus here Satan is added to the false prophet and the beast and is said to be "tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:10) Recognizing that the beast and the false prophets are symbols for systems, we see that no humans are said to be so "tormented day and night forever and ever." The lake of fire, we have seen, simply means the second death. Thus what does this "torment" consist of?
Let us examine the Greek word used here, basanizo, Strong's #928. Its root is Strong's #931, basanos. Strong gives the meaning of #928 as "torture." However, he gives its root the following meaning: "a touch-stone, i.e. (by anal.) torture." Related to this is Strong's #929, basanismos, which Strong defines as torture. According to Vine #931 means "primarily `a touchstone,' employed in testing metals"; then he adds to this: "hence, `torment,' is used (a) of physical diseases, Matt. 4:24: (b) of a condition of retribution in Hades Luke 16:23, 28." Regarding basanizo (#928), Vine states that it "properly signifies `to test by rubbing on the touchstone' (basanos, `a touchstone'), then, `to question by applying torture'; hence `to vex, torment'; in the passive voice, `to be harassed, distressed'; it is said of men struggling in a boat against wind and waves, Matt. 14:24, RV, `distressed' (KJV, `tossed'); Mark 6:48, RV, `distressed' (KJV, `toiling')" According to A New Greek and English Lexicon, by George Dunbar, A.M.,F.R.S.E. basanosmeans: "Literally -- to put to the touchstone, to put to the proof. To try, prove, examine carefully, investigate carefully, investigate closely. To torture in order to discover the truth." The New Testament Greek Lexicon based on Thayer's and Smith's Bible Dictionary gives the following meanings: "1. to test (metals) by the touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the colour of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal 2. to question by applying torture 3. to torture 4. to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to torment 5. to be harassed, distressed a. of those who at sea are struggling with a head wind"
http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=928
What does all of the above mean? It simply means that basanizo, as used in Revelation 20:10, is the verb form of basanos, literally "touchstoned" or "used as a touchstone." A touchstone is defined as: "1. A fine-grained dark stone formerly used to test the fines of gold and silver by the color of the streak made on the stone. 2. A criterion or standard by which the qualities of something are tested." (Funk & Wagnalls) Thus the beast, false prophet and Satan the Devil, as symbols, will be used as a touchstone for all eternity, a striking tool by which to contrast Jehovah's righteous kingdom as opposed to the kingdoms of this present evil world. All creation will look upon the works of the beast, false prophet and the serpent as a reminder never to return to such an arrangement again.
Revelation 19:3, speaking of a system described as Babylon the Great, "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth," (Revelation 17:5) says, "Her smoke rose up forever and ever." That is to say, the remembrance ("smoke") of the destruction of these systems of deception and error will be lasting, the lesson will never be forgotten--as smoke, which continues to ascend after a destructive fire, is testimony that the fire has done its work. -- See also Isaiah 34:8-10.
Of Revelation 14:9-11 we remark, incidentally, that all will at once concede that if a literal worshipping of a beast and image were meant in verse 9, then few, if any, in civilized lands are liable to the penalty of verse 11. In other words, who would be deceived by a literal beast with seven heads and ten horns coming out the sea? (Revelation 13:1); and if the beast, his image, wine and cup are symbols, so also would be the "torments", and smoke and fire and brimstone.
The casting of death and hades into eternal destruction, the Second death, during the Millennial age, is a part of the utter destruction which will include every improper, injurious and useless thing. (Isaiah 11:9; Psalm 101:5-8) The Second death, the sentence of that individual trial, will be final: it will never be destroyed. And let all the lovers of righteousness say, Amen; for to destroy the Second Death, to remove the sentence of that just and impartial trial, would be to let loose again not only Satan, but all who love and practice wrong and deception, and who dishonor Jehovah with their evil institutions--to oppose, offend and endeavor to overthrow those who love and desire to serve him and enjoy his favor. We rejoice that there is no danger of this, but that divine justice unites with divine wisdom, love and power, to bring in everlasting righteousness on a permanent basis.
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